


White Rabbit

by Cherrys_Criminal_Mind



Category: Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 06:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 52,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5656132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrys_Criminal_Mind/pseuds/Cherrys_Criminal_Mind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finishing a lecture at a local college, Dr Spencer Reid is suprised to be approached by a nervous young woman who hands him a file and then disappears. After reading the file he realises that he must find her and uncover the dark secret she appears to hold. </p><p>... </p><p>The summary sucks but this is one of the stories I'm most proud of. Please please please read it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Well, that concludes all the time I have for questions. Thank you all so much for listening. As I said earlier, if any of you want me to have a look at your papers, please bring them over and leave them on desk. I’ll have them back with Professor Frost by Monday.”

Spencer looked out over the auditorium and gave all of the attendees a wide smile.

He genuinely enjoyed lecturing, feeling that if he did ever leave the BAU, it would seriously be something he’d consider doing. Although not many guest lecturers would offer to take the time look over students papers, because of his super quick reading ability he didn’t mind doing it. He enjoyed reading the thoughts and theories that these fresh young minds came up with, some of them had excellent ideas and would go far in their respective fields once they graduated.

Professor Frost rose to the podium and spoke out to his students.

“Class let’s thank Dr Reid for his time, and let’s try not to give him too much homework, he does have lives to save after all.”

The students laughed and gave him another round of applause before filing out one by one, only a handful of students, maybe a dozen in total, coming down to the front to leave him a folder, or a paper for him to glance over and provide his feedback.

One girl stood out. Whilst all of the other students smiled at him or thanked him, this one particular girl hesitated before tossing her folder onto the top of the pile and almost running from the room. She was a small thing, no more than 5ft 3 and she had dark brown hair which was pulled into a low pony tail. She didn’t make any eye contact with Spencer before she dashed away.

Spencer glanced at the Professor to see whether he’d clocked her nervous display.

Professor Frost just shrugged. “Thats Alice. Odd little thing isn’t she?”

“She seemed nervous.”

“She’s not normally that bad. She’s just very quiet. She’s very smart though, one of the best students in the class. She’ll do well once she graduates, if she can get over her nerves.”

The Professor thanked Spencer for his time again and Reid gathered up the folders and his own papers, and carried them out to his car getting ready to drive the ten miles from the campus to his home.

He looked around as he loaded the boxes into the trunk of his car having the distinct feeling like someone was watching him.

Because someone was. The girl the professor referred to as Alice was stood underneath a nearby tree, carefully watching him, shuffling her feet and fidgeting with her hands. Spencer went to wave at her, wanting to signal her to come over to him, maybe they could talk about why she’d been so nervous approaching him. Before he could, girl turned and fled, running across the grass quickly, her backpack hitting against her as she moved. He tried to follow her movements to see where she went but he could only see that she ran as far as the parking lot across the way before she disappeared.

How strange.

Spencers curiosity was piqued by her actions and he leant into the box in which he’d stashed the students papers. Hers was top of the pile as she’d been the last one to give hers in. He took it into the car with him, wondering if her writings would give him some indication into why she had such a nervous disposition around him.

What he saw when he opened the file made his jaw drop.

…

Alice had been binding her time, collecting article after article, carefully clipping them from the papers her sister Ellen had delivered each day, and printing out information from online.

She’d been certain that it was them, it had to be. She just didn’t know what to do about it. Ellen and her husband Robert thought she was being paranoid but she was so sure she wasn’t. She’d recognised those girls, perhaps not the names that they’d been given in the papers but she knew the faces.

Eight bodies in total. Alice hadn’t recognised the latest girl, but the circumstances and the clothing had been the same. And when she finally managed to hack the police departments database, she found the justification she’d been looking for. The markings. She knew it was them. When she looked further back, she found more and more bodies, all with a similar marking, many before her time there and some during.

She had the proof she needed, she just couldn’t do anything with it. What if they came after her? She’d spent the last five years constantly looking behind her, finally getting up enough courage to enrol in college, signing up for Criminal Psychology, perhaps in an effort to understand them better.

When she’d found out that Dr Spencer Reid, a renowned agent from the BAU in nearby Quantico was going to be guest lecturing, she knew she had to take this opportunity. Maybe he could help her. She just needed to convince him that she wasn’t crazy, and that all of the bodies were linked. She knew she had something here, and if she was right, with any luck she’d be able to rescue Rebecca. If she was still there, if she wasn’t another body dumped somewhere else that Alice hadn’t read about.

Oh gosh, it didn’t bear thinking about.

She just hoped he’d take her seriously.

If he even read her file at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Instead of driving home Reid went straight back to the BAU headquarters knowing that his boss, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, would still be there.

As he drove, his mind was in overdrive. He’d quickly read though the articles, the clippings, scanned over the photos that had been in the folder, before finally coming to a hand written letter at the end.

_Dr Reid_

_I’m not crazy, I can promise you that much._

_My sister and my brother in law think that I’m being paranoid, that I’m reading too much into this and that I’m looking for a reason to blame THEM for something, for anything really._

_But I’m not, I’m not crazy. These deaths are all connected, I know these people; at least most of them anyway. The names don’t match the names I knew them as, but then again very few of kept our own names, myself being one of the exceptions._

_You need to catch them. I thought it was just a few that he’d done this to, but there’s more, there’s so many more, I’m sure of it. I’m scared for Rebecca, for Abby, if they’re still alive. And the children, oh god…. The babies. There were always so many babies there._

_I can’t speak to you, I couldn’t come to a police station, or to the FBI. They’re probably not watching me, Ellen is probably right about that much, but what if they are? I can’t go back there. But you need to find him and stop him. Before it’s too late._

_Please._

Spencer wasn’t a handwriting expert but he could tell the note had been hurriedly scribbled, and by the looks of it, it hadn’t been written in Alice’s natural writing hand. Perhaps she was that worried about whoever THEY were finding her, that she’d swapped hands in order to disguise her normal hand writing.

Who they were, was another mystery. But she claimed that they were responsible for the deaths of these people. Some of these cases were ones that had come across the BAUs desk briefly in previous years, the team not bring able to find any leads and having to shelve them and pass them back to the local PD. Others hadn’t even come through their office, but the girl had underlined detail after detail, circling areas on crime scene photos, photos she shouldn’t even have.

The last photo was what had shocked him, made him think that this wasn’t just some crazy person who was just a little too into true crime.

It had been a Polaroid of three girls standing together with two children. The photo was taken in front of what looked like an old barn and Spencer could see plenty of other people walking around in the back ground. One of the girls was Alice. Albeit, a younger version of the girl he had encountered today. She looked to be maybe fifteen or sixteen? Her hair was pulled back in a bandana and she wore shorts and a tank top, plaited leather bracelets around each of her wrists. The other two girls were dressed similarly, and Spencer guessed that the photo might have been taken in summertime as the majority of the people he could make out in the background were dressed in summer clothes too. The two girls and the children all wore the same plaited bracelets around their wrists, the children only wearing one as opposed to the two that the older girls bore.

That was important, Reid knew it had to be important, he just didn’t know why yet.

What was important, was that the two girls Alice was stood with, both appeared in the crime scene photos she’d included.

As the corpses.


	3. Chapter 3

Spencer dashed into Agent Hotchners office, not even stopping to knock. Luckily, his supervisor was alone and didn’t berate him for his lack of professionalism.

“Dr Reid. Is everything okay, I thought you were lecturing today?” Hotch glanced up from his paperwork, greeting the younger man with a concerned look on his face. Spencer was out of breath from hurrying from his car and into the office and Aaron knew that something must be wrong.

“Hotch, I’m really not sure. One of the students handed me this and then ran off.” Reid placed the folder onto the next watching as Hotch flipped it open and started leafing through the papers.

“Spencer, help me out here. I can’t read as quickly as you.” Aaron picked through the crime scene photos that appeared in front of him, finally seeing the handwritten letter and scanning it.

“This girl, Alice. She claims she knows who killed these people, that the cases are all linked. She shouldn’t even have these photos or some of the information that she does. And there’s a Polaroid… ” Spencer rummaged through the many papers searching for it and finding it, handing it to his boss “… here. She’s with two of the girls that turned up dead. She knows them.”

“You think she’s got something here?” Hotch looked at the Polaroid and back to the crime scene photos.

“I think she might. Hotch, I remember three of the cases coming across our desks but we didn’t have anything. No leads, nothing. But she’s picked out more, saying they’re linked and that she knows how. And she was nervous, she practically threw the file at me and ran, but then she was stood watching as I got into my car, like she was making sure I’d read it. As soon as she saw that I’d seen her, she ran again.”

“So she is definitely a student there then? Did her Professor say anything about her behaviour?” Hotch was studying the Polaroid carefully.

“Only that she wasn’t usually that nervous, he said she was quiet but she was one of the smartest in the class.”

“Hmmm.” Aaron eyed the photos of the bodies. “What do you think, Reid. If you think there’s something here, I can make a few calls and we go and speak with her. I trust your judgement.”

Spencer moved around the table and stood behind his supervisor, bending over and pointing to the photo.

“The bracelets, everyone in that photo has them on, even the people in the background have them on. And the children only have one on. The way they’re all dressed as well, very simply.”

“You think it’s some kinda of group? A cult?”

“It’s something. She’s younger in the photo but it’s definitely her. And in her letter she makes a reference to knowing the victims, but not by the names they were given. A lot of groups or cults, whatever we want to call them, will assign members different names in an attempt to detract from the previous identity. That’s if the joiners don’t change their names in the first place.”

“Okay. I agree, we might have something. Do you have any contact details for this girl, Alice did you say her name was?” Hotch put down the photo, looking up to Reid.

“Yes Alice. And no. She hadn’t even signed her full name. I’ll call Professor Frost though. He should have her details.”

His supervisor nodded at him and he pulled out his cell and scrolled for the number the Professor had provided him with.

“Dr Reid, How can I help?” The scholar seemed surprised to be hearing from him so quickly.

“Professor Frost, I need to speak with one of your students about something in the papers they gave me. Are you still at the school?”

“I’m afraid I’m not and I don’t have their personal files at home with me. If it’s of absolute urgency, I can return to the school within an hour or two.”

Spencer mouthed to Hotch ‘is Garcia still here?’ He nodded.

“Could you just provide me with a surname. We should be able to find her from that? It’s the girl you called Alice that I need to speak with.”

“Of course, I’m surprised she didn’t leave it on her file though. But it’s Manchester. Alice Manchester.”

“Thank you Sir, sorry to have bothered you at home.”

Spencer rung off, the Professor telling him to call if he needed anything else.

“Got it. I just need to see if Garcia can find her based on just her name.”

Hotch shot him a withering look. “Do you know Penelope at all?”

They walked down the hall together, Hotch having gathered up the contents of the file.

“Hey Boy Wonder, wasn’t expecting to see you back here today.” Penelope Garcia greeted her colleagues, spinning around in her chair to see them, a grin plastered across her brightly coloured lips.

“I wasn’t expecting to be back here today either. Garcia I need you to find me contact details for one of the students who attended the lecture I gave today.”

Penelope didn’t need to ask which College he’d been at, she kept tabs on all of her team; liking to know where they all were at any given time. They were like family to her. She tabbed away at her keyboard and within seconds had gained access to the colleges central database.

“Name please, Genius.” Her fingers raised and ready to type.

“Alice Manchester. Spelt like the city.”

A few more clicks and Spencer had the information he needed, Penelope reeling off an address and contact number.

“249 Carson Grove. That’s not too far from here right? Says she lives with her sister Ellen and her brother in law Robert Manchester.”

“Thanks Penny, you’re the best.” Spencer turned to leave, intending to drive there straight away if Hotch would agree to accompany him. A phone call might spook her and she’d seemed nervous enough already.

“Wait!”

The two men turned around to face their female colleague who had a perturbed look on her face.

“Isn’t that odd?” She asked.

“What, exactly?” Hotch responded to her.

“Well it says she lives with her sister and her sisters husband. But they all share the same surname. Surely, she’d have a different one to them right?”

Penelope had an excellent point, one which both Spencer and Aaron had missed.

“Garcia can you do a quick search on Alice Manchester, outside of the schools database.”

She tapped a few more keys, pulling up multiple windows and tabs.

“Erm… There’s literally nothing. She has a drivers license attached to her school records as identification, but there’s no actual records of that being issued either.”

She tapped again, searching further and the men waited patiently.

“Nope, nada, zilch. Beyond the school database, that name doesn’t appear anywhere. Well, except for an Alice Manchester born in 1845 but I doubt that’s our girl. Why is she ‘our girl’ anyway. What has she done?”

“We’re not sure yet.” Aaron told her, thinking. “Can you find out her sisters maiden name?”

“Can I find out her sisters maiden name.” Penelope scoffed. “Is the Pope catholic? It’s….. Ellen Bradley. Okay, okay… So…”

She amended her search, looking for an Alice Bradley.

“Here we go. Alice Bradley born September 28th 1990, daughter to Paul and Marlene Bradley, tragically killed in 2000, she was left to the care of her older sister Ellen who was thirteen years older.. Yadda yadda yadda… Reporting missing by her sister in June 2005, three months before her sixteen birthday, she’d been spending the summer with her best friend Rebecca Olson in Rylon County. Um um um…. Here, picture. Is this the person you’re looking for?”

She pulled up an image from the missing persons report.

That was the girl Spencer had seen this afternoon, and the girl from the Polaroid.

“Was the missing persons report ever closed?” Spencer asked.

“Nope. It’s still active.”

“So her sister filed the report ten years ago and never bothered to inform the police when she turned up again?” Hotch turned to Spencer, the two men now confused.

This was getting curiouser and curiouser.


	4. Chapter 4

The drive to Alices home took Agent Hotchner and Dr Reid around fifteen minutes. They took a Bureau SUV, Agent Hotchner taking the wheel whilst Reid read back through the the information Garcia had printed off regarding Alices disappearance.

“It’s so bizarre that they wouldn’t tell the police she’d come home.” Reid commented, scanning the documents.

“Well, we don’t know what happened to her. If she’s changed her name she obviously doesn’t want people to know who she is, although if that’s the case, then it’s odd that she’s gone back to living with her sister. What does it say about the search for her and the other girl.”

“Not a lot. Rebecca Olson was eighteen months older than her. Alice had skipped a year in high school due to good grades so she associated with an older crowd. They both took clothing and some of their belongings so it was assumed that they ran away. There was a small search but the Rylon country PD didn’t spend much time or resource on them. According to the reports, the two girls had been seen speaking with some boys from out of town on the run up to their disappearance.”

“So they took belongings, were seen talking to boys, and were both teenagers. What was Rebecca’s family like? We know Alice was raised by her sister from the age of ten.”

Garcia piped up through the tinny speaker on Hotches cell.

“Her parents separated when she was seven. Her father and stepmother lived in Rylon County for a few years due to his job, that was why the two girls were in that area for the summer.”

“Rylon County is one the areas that borders the Bluedove Mountains right?” Reid spoke.

“You know it.” the voice on the end of the cell chirped.

“Hotch, all of these bodies were found in towns or counties that border those mountains and it’s surrounding national park.”

“So Alice has given us eight crime scenes in this file. Garcia, can you do a search for any…. ”

“Already on it boss. I’ll hit you back with the results.” The call disconnected just as Hotch pulled up to a large house, set back from the road.

They approached the main door and knocked, Spencer slightly to one side of Aaron. When the door opened a few moments later it was to reveal a blonde woman, who looked to be in her late thirties. When Spencer looked closer he could see that the hair was dyed and that the woman looked tired.

Hotch took the lead. “Excuse me, but does an Alice Manchester live here?”

“No, I’m sorry but she doesn’t.”

Spencer could tell she was lying, she twitched slightly at the mention of Alices name and her eyes glanced upwards for the briefest of seconds.

“How about an Alice Bradley then?” Spencer asked.

The woman now looked panicked and both men pulled out their FBI ID’S.

“You’re Ellen Manchester right?” Spencer began. “I’m Dr Spencer Reid and this Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Your sister attended a lecture I gave today and left me an interesting file. We need to talk to her about it.”

“You’re from the FBI?” Ellen asked.

Reid and Hotch nodded and she moved aside to let them into the hallway. A male voice called out from another room.

“Honey, who is it.”

“It’s two Agents from the Bureau, Robert. They’re here to see Alice.”

Spencer looked around the hallway quickly. From what he could see the house was impeccably decorated and whilst the walls were adorned with photographs and portraits, there was only was of Alice and Ellen Bradley together. It was right in front of him on the wall and he peered at it, hearing quick footsteps coming from another room as Robert Manchester approached them. The photo looked to be around fifteen years old if he had to take a guess, the two girls standing with two adults, a male and a female whom he’d bet were their decreased parents.

“From the Bureau? Are you sure, did you check their ID.” He asked his wife in hushed tones.

“Yes Robert, I checked. Where is Alice today, is she in her apartment or our guest room.”

“She’s in the guest room….Wait, is one of you Dr Reid, the Agent who was lecturing at Allys campus today?”

Reid held his hand up.

“So she gave you that folder then.” Robert stated and Reid nodded.

“Do you think she’s actually onto something?”

“We’re not sure what we think. But we’re concerned by some of the information in the folder which is why we’re here. To talk to her. What’s also concerning us is that Alice was reported missing ten years ago but was never reported as found, yet she appears to be living here.”

Robert and Ellen looked at each other cautiously before Ellen spoke quietly.

“She begged us not to. She was too concerned that ‘they’ would find her, but she’d never tell us who ‘they’ were.”

“How long was she gone for exactly?” Aaron asked the couple.

“Four and a half years. All that time and we hear nothing from her, and then one day out of the blue, she calls us, begging us to come and pick her up from a diner three hours away from our old home.”

“Did you look for her when she was missing. We know that you reported it.”

Ellen sighed. “I looked, Rebecca’s family looked, and the police department looked. But it was like they’d disappeared off the face of the earth. The police tried to convince me that she’d ran away, and in the end, I believed them.”

“All the signs did point to that Ellen.” Robert told her, touching his wives arm lightly.

“So what happened when you found her, what did she tell you?” Spencer asked.

“Very little. When she called she was in a diner in a town called Pendleton. She wouldn’t say where she’d been and she wouldn’t let us call the cops or take her to hospital. She was frightened, and hysterical by the time I got there. Her clothes were messy and it looked like she’d been dragged through a bush backwards. I remember seeing track marks on her arms and panicking.”

“They weren’t track marks.” A voice came from the top of the stairs and Spencer and Hotch looked up to see a young woman stood there, the same woman Spencer had encountered earlier today. She was dressed in jeans and a button down shirt that had the sleeves rolled up slightly. Her voice had shook slightly when she spoke, but she seemed less skittish than when she’d approached Reid earlier.

Ellen turned to her sister, her voice exasperated when she spoke, obviously weary from an age old conversation. “You keep telling me that Ally, but you won’t tell me what they were. You won’t tell us anything at all. What are we meant to think?”

Alice made her way down the stairs, stopping a few steps from the bottom.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Then make us.”

Alice just shook her head and turned to Dr Reid, her eyes suddenly hopeful.

“You’re here. Does that mean you believe me?”

Spencer felt Aaron’s eyes on him as he took a deep breath and answered.

“I think I do.”


	5. Chapter 5

Alice had heard the door go and had stood just outside the guest bedroom listening to Ellen talk to the visitors.

When she’d got home from campus she’d gone straight into the main house, bypassing Robert who was working from home and rushing upstairs to the guest room. She pulled open the closet door and sat behind it on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest.

Since she’d made the decision to hand her folder to Dr Reid, her nerves had been playing up. She managed to control them pretty well most of the time, refusing to take medication for them as she needed to be alert and of sound mind. Medication only fuddled her brain.

When Ellen and Robert had made the decision to move four years ago, they’d purposely bought somewhere with an apartment over the garage for her. Ellen had felt guilty for not looking harder for Alice and for not being a better parent to her after their own had died, and Robert made good money in the city so a few extra thousand dollars didn’t make that much of a difference to them. But sometimes, when her paranoia kicked in again, they would find her huddled on the floor in the guest room, or sat in the corner of the room; the closet door open and pulled back on itself, shielding her like it was now. Her sister and her brother in law knew something had happened to her, she’d been gone for four and a half years years after all. But Alice flatly refused to tell them what. She couldn’t. If she told them where she’d been, what she’d been involved in and the things she’d seen and knew, they’d have no choice but to call the police. And she couldn’t let that happen, not then. So she’d bided her time, collecting as much proof as she could to back herself up.

Alice still had nightmares, mainly about the two nights she’d spent wandering through the woods in constant fear that they’d find her before she managed to get back to civilisation and place a call to her sister, praying she hadn’t moved from their childhood home. Alice had started to shake again just thinking about it. She closed her eyes and counted slowly in her head, breathing deeply in and out like she’d taught herself to. ‘Get a grip girl, you’re safe. You’re fine’ she told herself over and over.

Robert had given her a few minutes before knocking on the door to see if she was okay. She liked Robert, she’d actually confided in him more than she had Ellen. She still hadn’t told him the full story, just that she’d fallen in with a bad crowd and that she knew they were responsible for killing some people. It was Robert who had encouraged her to voice her theories to Dr Reid once he’d seen the scheduled lecture on Alices campus timetable.

Ellen and Robert had been so pleased when she’d enrolled at school again. Despite having missed the last few years of high school Alice was incredibly intelligent. She tested with an IQ of 167 but she just sometimes let herself get distracted or led easily astray, something that had been her downfall when she was fifteen and in Rylon County. It had taken her ten months to actually feel comfortable enough to leave the confines of their old home to sit the required exams to graduate but once she had, she found herself becoming more and more at ease being out in public, especially once they’d moved to another state completely. She still found herself looking over her shoulder but she’d become adept at quickly scanning each room and mapping out her escape routes should she need to leave in a hurry. Ellen flatly refused to let her do what she really wanted to do though which was to carry a gun, despite that fact that Alice had applied for a permit and everything. She told her that if she found one in the house, then Alice would be out on the street.

“Ally… You okay?” Robert had called out from the bedroom door, having learnt the hard way that she needed personal space when she was like this.

“I’m good.” She’d called back, managing to keep her voice steady.

“Did you hand it in?” He asked, referring to the folder.

“Yep.”

“Good girl. You’ve done the right thing. It’s up to the professionals now.” He’d left her alone after that and she remained seated, hearing her sister returning from work a while later and clattering around in the kitchen.

It was only when she’d heard the front door sound that Alice had stood from her safety spot, peering out of the window to see a huge black SUV parked outside. Government issue, she’d learnt to recognise them, one of the many things she’d learnt to recognise over the years. She crept over to the bedroom door, hearing her sister trying to send them away. Alice knew Ellen was dubious about what she’d been doing when was missing, but still acted upon her younger sisters wishes to never reveal that she lived there to anyone calling for her, without Alice verifying that she knew them first. She was grateful to Ellen for that, knowing that she hadn’t given her much in the way to trust her on.

When she’d heard the voice of the man she’d spent all afternoon listening to ask for her by her given name, Alice Bradley, she stepped out onto the stairs listening some more. They were asking about her disappearance and why her sister had never closed the police file and reported her as found. Alice had threatened to kill herself if they did, knowing that if that file was closed, she may as well be dead. They’d find her if the file was updated.

It was only when Ellen referred to the track marks on her arms that she spoke up and revealed herself, the man Dr Reid was with looking at her curiously.

When she asked the Doctor if he believed her and he revealed that he thought he did, her heart lifted; a weight off her shoulders. An FBI agent believed her. She wasn’t crazy, although she knew all along she wasn’t, she just knew that other people would assume she was. They wouldn’t even begin to comprehend what she’d been through.

Dr Reid addressed her directly, a gentle tone to his voice. “Alice, I’m Dr Spencer Reid as you know. This is my supervisor, Agent Aaron Hotchner. Is there somewhere we can go to talk?”

Alice opened her mouth to respond but Ellen butted in. “Come through to the kitchen, I’ve not long put a pot of coffee on.”

Ellen led the way, Robert and Agent Hotchner following her. Dr Reid lagged behind, waiting for Alice to step down the few remaining stairs and to move in front of him. She didn’t and he eyed her carefully.

“You want to be the last so you can run if you need to right? Just like you ran when I saw you in the parking lot.”

She wasn’t surprised that he’d picked up on that, just surprised that he voiced his observations to her directly. When people saw her little kooks, they generally just cocked their heads and kept their thoughts to themselves.

“It’s an old habit.” She told him, still not moving.

“Hmmm. It’s an interesting habit for you to have. Alice, I’m here because I believe you okay. But if we have a case, one that you’ve bought us, we’re going to need your help. Please don’t run out on us.”

She took in the Agents words and slowly stepped out in front of him.

“I can’t promise that I can help you, Dr Reid.”

She’d given him the file, the starting information they needed. She wasn’t sure how much more information she’d dare to reveal.

“Spencer, please. You’ve sat through an afternoon of listening to me ramble, you’ve gained the right to use my first name.” He saw from her eyebrow raise that she knew he was trying to put her at ease, but he continued on. “Whatever you’re scared of Alice, the FBI can keep you safe. But we need to know what it is.”

She shook her head sadly but started down the hallway to the kitchen. Stopping just outside of the door, she turned to him.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be safe, Spencer.”

…


	6. Chapter 6

When Spencer and Alice entered the kitchen, Agent Hotchner was on his cell.

“Penelope, that’s a hell of a lot. Not all of them will be connected. Yes… Yes…. Alright. I’ll let you know.”

He disconnected and then looked at Alice and Reid.

“In the nine towns and counties that immediately border the Bluedove Mountain range and it’s surrounding national park, there’s been seventy bodies found. Some identified, others remaining Jane or John Does’.”

“As many as seventy? How are we not aware of these?” Dr Reid asked, eyeing Alice carefully. He noted how she slipped into the seat closest to the kitchen door. She obviously knew that would be the quickest exit for her. The girls eyes flickered between the Agents as they talked and the older two Manchesters watched the whole scene with looks of both concern and horror on their faces.

“The FBI were made aware of some, but we either didn’t see the cases as requiring immediate assistance or we didn’t have anything to go on and shelved them. Others, we weren’t even invited in on.”

“Over what time scale is Garcia looking?”

“She went back as far as the seventies.”

Alice was toying with the salt shaker that was placed in the centre of the small kitchen table that she’d sat at. “Discount anything before 1986 at least.”

“Are you sure?” Agent Hotchner asked her and she nodded.

“I’d think you could discount anything before 1990 to be honest. I don’t think there would have been anything in the first few years.”

“The first few years of what, Alice?” Ellen Manchester spoke up, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was leaning against the kitchen worktop in front of the coffee machine, five mugs were set out but so far no coffee had been poured.

Alice ignored her sisters enquiry, still playing with the salt shaker.

“Are there any other identifiers we should look for?” Spencer asked her softly, sliding into the seat next to her.

She nodded. “A tattoo or a branding. Or in some cases, missing skin on the base of the neck.”

Reid noticed that she sounded a lot calmer now than she had earlier, the only obvious sign that she was nervous was her hands fidgeting and the occasional quick scan of her eyes around the room.

“A tattoo or branding; is there a particular image that it would be?” Agent Hotchner spoke to her again.

Alice glanced at her sister and brother in law and then gathered her hair up in her fist, lifting it from neck and pulling her shirt collar down. The two agents moved to behind her, bending down to get a closer look.

Aaron squinted, he could see the detail of the black lines and could make out the shape of an animal in tribal form but he couldn’t tell what it was. He looked at Reid who was doing the same thing, his tongue poking into his cheek as he tried to work out what it was. Finally, he got it.

“It’s a rabbit right?”

Alice nodded and started to release her hair.

“Alice, can you hold it up. I need to send a photo to our technical analyst.”

She dropped her hair immediately and spun in her seat. “No photos.”

Spencer crouched so that he was eye level with her, like he would if he was communicating with a child.

“Hotch will crop the image before sending so that it literally just be the tattoo. No hair, no other skin. Just the tattoo. I presume that the tattoo’s are all identical?”

“For the most part yes. Some turned out worse than others though.” Alice made direct eye contact with him for the first time and Spencer could see bright green eyes, eyes that had obviously seen so much.

“Then there would be no way that the image could be traced back to you if it fell into the wrong hands. Not that it WILL fall into the wrong hands. You are completely safe with us. We won’t let anything else happen to you. But we need to have that picture.”

Agent Hotchner was impressed with his younger colleague. Spencer had already made a connection with the girl, he knew she was afraid and seemed to be able to put her at ease somewhat. He spoke to her softly, but assertively.

Alice slowly gathered her hair back up into her fists, making sure that every last strand was pulled into her hand. Aaron quickly took a photo on his cell and then cropped it accordingly, showing the photo to Alice for her approval. She nodded and he sent it, calling Garcia back.

“Penelope, narrow the search to after 1990 and you’re looking for cases where the body has either a tattoo or a branding of a rabbit on their neck, or an injury to the neck resulting in missing skin.” He paused and covered the mouthpiece to speak to Alice.

“Would there be any other markings anywhere else on the body?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, no. As far as I’m aware they’ve always used the rabbit as their emblem.”

He released the call to Penelope after telling her that he’d sent her an image to look for. Alice had unscrewed the cap to the salt shaker and was emptying the salt into her hand, making a funnel and then letting it filter back through. Ellen was looking at her disapprovingly.

“Agent Hotchner, Dr Reid, I don’t wish to be rude but what exactly is my sister helping you with here? I’ve let you into my home and now you’re talking about markings on dead bodies. I really don’t understand.”

Hotch looked between the two sisters and then down at Reid who was still crouched on the floor beside Alice who was completely focused on transferring the salt between the shaker and her hand. He didn’t even realise that she’d heard the exchange, the expression on her face was transfixed. It was only when she spoke in a dull voice that it appeared that she had been listening.

“You can tell her about the file. Robert knows anyway.”

Ellen glanced at her husband. “YOU know what this is all about?” Looking back at her younger sister she exclaimed “You’ve confided in him, but not me?”

“He doesn’t look at me like I’m a crazy ex drug addict. He didn’t ask constant questions and then get upset when I said I couldn’t tell him. He was just there when I did want to talk.”

“So he knows where you were for four and a half years? And I don’t.”

Alice looked up at her sister. “No. I haven’t told anyone where I was those years. I didn’t ever want to have to tell people where I was. I didn’t ever want to talk about it. I got out. I escaped. I survived it. That was all that mattered. But then when I was scanning news reports, I kept coming across dead bodies. Of people I knew. Of people I lived with. I thought they’d have stopped when I left, that maybe losing me made them realise how wrong it was. But they didn’t stop, they’ll never stop. If I’d have stayed, it could have been me.”

Her voice started to crack and her calm nonchalant demeanour started to vanish again.

It was Spencer who finally spoke. “Stayed where, Alice.”

“Wonderland.”

…


	7. Chapter 7

“Wonderland.”

Alice was fully aware of how ridiculous it sounded and she could feel the eyes of the other four people in the room upon her.

Ellen started to laugh, more of a mean cackle than anything.

Alice knew her sister resented the fact that Alice refused to tell her where she’d been for the years she’d been gone. She knew Ellen loved her deep down, but the woman had an odd way of showing it sometimes. The two sisters had never been close growing up, the age difference was too big for Ellen to want to play with Alice when she was a kid. When their parents had died and Alice was entrusted to her twenty three years old sisters care, they grown momentarily closer. But it hadn’t lasted long. Ellen didn’t have the time for her, she still didn’t now. She was impatient and if she didn’t get results straight away she could become awfully mean and scathing. Alice knew she’d only been allowed to stay with her sister for so long because of the guilt Ellen had felt.

“So your name is Alice, you have a tattoo of a rabbit and you claim to have been in Wonderland. And you expect me to believe that you weren’t high on smack or whatever else for those four years.”

“Ellie…. ” Robert warned his wife, touching her arm lightly and glancing at the two agents who looked equally confused.

Alice finally placed the salt shaker down, screwing the lid back on.

“Look I know how it sounds. The whole thing sounds absurd. But I wasn’t high. And it IS a place. I didn’t choose the name, it’s been there for years, since before I was even born. But my stupid ass name made me a target, made them think I was special.”

“Who is they, Alice? We’re going to need to know everything here.” Spencer spoke to her carefully.

“I don’t wanna talk about it, not here.” She told him.

“Well we’ll need you to come down to Quantico anyway.” Agent Hotchner checked his cell which had just lit up, Alice hearing a beep coming from Spencers pocket as well.

“I’m not going anywhere now. It’s after eight thirty.”

“Eight thirty?” Spencer asked her, unsure as to why the time was important.

“Alice doesn’t go out after eight thirty and she doesn’t leave before six am.” Robert told him, his wife rolling her eyes. The pair were obviously still very confused about what was happening. The two Agents were as well if they were being completely honest. But given the text Penelope had just sent the pair, they had a case. A big one. And this woman was key to it.

“Can I ask you why not?” Spencer looked at the woman sat to his right.

“Because we weren’t allowed to leave the compound after eight thirty. It was the rules and they stuck. It stuck, okay.”

Compound. A place called Wonderland. Reid needed more.

“Okay Alice. So we won’t ask you to leave here today. We’ll need you to come in tomorrow though. Can you do that?”

She smiled and look towards the back door “Sure. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll be there.”

She was far too relaxed when she said that and Spencer knew exactly why. If they left her to her own devices, she wouldn’t be turning up tomorrow. She’d run. Or worse.

“Dr Reid, can I talk to you in the hallway for a moment.” Agent Hotchner spoke up and Reid nodded, following him out and closing the kitchen door behind him.

“Garcia has narrowed it down to 38 bodies, all discovered around the Bluedoves and all with some form of marking to the neck. She says only a few have actual tattoos but the rest were missing flesh there.”

“38. Are we… are we investigating then?” Reid asked him.

“We have to. We don’t have a case at the minute anyway and some of these, ARE our own cases, just shelved ones. We’ll assemble the team first thing in the morning. And we need to know her story. From what she’s said so far, it has to be some sort of cult. What kind, and who the leader is, are the questions we need answers to. ”

“Hotch, you saw her to look to the door though. If we leave here tonight, I doubt we’ll ever see her again.”

Aaron nodded and opened the kitchen door, beckoning to Robert Manchester to join them.

“What can I help with?” He asked the two men.

“You encouraged Alice to hand that folder to Dr Reid. You believe her?” Aaron addressed him.

“She hasn’t exactly told me much. But when she turned up again five years ago, she was terrified of something. She’s come a long way since then, a very long way. She still has her little tics and ways but she’s progressing. When she started collating the information in that folder, you could tell that she was scared again, frightened. I believe she has a reason for that.”

“Okay. Robert, we’d like Dr Reid to spend the night here if that’s alright. I’m worried that Alice may try to leave and not come to Quantico tomorrow otherwise and we need to know her story. Whatever went on at this ‘Wonderland’ place, we need to know why it’s linked to these bodies. And right now, she’s the only person who can help with that.”

Spencer looked at his boss, surprised at his suggestion that he spend the night.

“Thats fine with myself and I’ll make it fine with Ellen. Whatever help we can be Agents.”

Aaron turned to Spencer. “She seems to trust you. Perhaps because your not that much older than her, I don’t know. But you’ve got a connection. We need to use that connection. I’ll have a car come and pick you both up tomorrow morning.”

“Yes Sir.”

The three men entered the kitchen, Robert going over to his wife again.

“Sweetie, Dr Reid is going to spend the night to make sure Alice is okay.”

“Alice is fine.” Both sisters spoke at once, Alice referring to herself in the third person and narrowing her eyes at Spencer. They’d foiled her plan and she knew it.

“Alice, we know you’re scared. And we know you don’t want to talk to us. But you bought us this case so we’re going to need you to. Dr Reid will remain here overnight and will accompany you to Quantico tomorrow. We’d like both of you to come as well.” Hotch spoke to Ellen and Robert, them both nodding.

“Before I head back to headquarters, can you give me a name Alice. Whoever was in charge of this place you were at.”

“If I give you a name will you leave me alone for today. I’m tired and I have a headache, I just want to sleep. I’m not gonna run, I promise. I’ll help. But you have to keep me safe.”

“We’ll keep you safe, we promise.” Reid spoke to her quietly.

“Do you have a gun?” She asked him.

“Yes. It’s in my bag, I just wasn’t wearing it when I was lecturing. I didn’t need to.”

“Good. Fine. His name as Lewis. And hers was Marnie.”

Spencer had heard those names before, quickly sifting through the masses of information stored in his brain.

“Marnie Goldstein?” He asked her.

“I don’t know her last name. They were just Lewis and Marnie to everyone.”

He glanced at Hotch seeing that he’d recognised the names too.

“It has to be. I always suspected something would come of them, their story was just too strange.” Hotch commented.

“You’re telling me.” Came Alices reply.

“Alright. I’m going to head back. Reid, I’ll text you details of the pick up tomorrow morning. I’ll have the team briefed by the time you get in. Alice, once again. I promise you that we will keep you safe.”

She didn’t respond to Hotch this time and just looked directly at Dr Reid.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Is this Alice girl a victim, a witness, or what?”

The team bar Dr Reid were gathered around the round table they used for briefings as Aaron went through the details that himself, Reid and Garcia had managed to garner between them.

“We’re not sure. All we know is she bought us the file with the first eight bodies and that she’s been giving us information. From what she’s revealed so far it appears that when she and Rebecca Olson ran away from Rebecca’s home, it was to some sort of retreat or compound that is went by the name ‘Wonderland’. Alice left there after four and a half years and has been living with her sister for the five years since. She believes Rebecca Olson is still there.”

“So what do Marnie and Lewis Goldstein have to do with it?” Agent Jareau piped up.

“Yeah, I remember those names from the news reports in the eighties, but why are they important now” Agent Rossi looked at Aaron, confused as to why these two names were involved. The rest of the room didn’t recognise the names.

“Marnie Goldstein is the daughter of James and Julianne Goldstein, they owned a large clothing manufacturering factory in the seventies and eighties and became quite wealthy from it. In 1980, their sixteen year old daughter came across a naked, injured and confused boy wandering the streets outside their home. The boy was taken into hospital whilst the authorities tried to find out who he was. Marnie would visit him each day and became quite attached to him. When the authorities couldn’t establish his identity and nobody came forward to claim him, Marnie convinced her parents to foster him.”

Aaron glanced around the room to check the team were still with him.

“The boy stayed with the family for six years and then both the boy, who had name himself Lewis at this point, disappeared with Marnie in toe. When doctors examined him originally, they estimated him to be around twelve years old, so when they left he was around eighteen and Marnie twenty two. When the family were interviewed about the disappearance, strange stories about Lewis came out. The boy claimed that he was from the future, from 2040 to be exact, and that he’d been sent back in time to assemble a select group of people to prepare for when the world falls in 2035.” Hotch was reading directly from interview transcripts now.

“So the kid was crazy then.” Morgan commented.

“Marnies parents thought so at first, but she was their only daughter and she’d become so attached to him that they didn’t want to upset her. He was only a kid, they’d said. What harm could he do, he’d obviously been through some traumatic experiences. But, then he started telling them about events that would happen to prove himself to them and then those events did happen.”

“What sort of events are we talking here?” JJ asked.

Agent Hotchner listed them, and the team looked around at each other.

“How specific was he exactly?”

“In some cases, not very. But in others, he was date specific. The Goldsteins claimed Lewis told them about these events months before they happened and they wrote them down. When these things started to happen, they panicked, thinking he was somehow involved. They talked about throwing him out on the streets but Marnie overheard and threatened to kill herself if they did. So they allowed him to stay. Two days after the six year anniversary of when they’d found him, Marnie and Lewis both disappeared.”

“Ran away, you mean?” Derek pointed out.

“Ran away with no trace or any clues pointing to where they’d gone. Nothing at all. The family spent a lot of money on search parties and campaigns to help find their daughter, but no one ever came forward with any new information. They simply upped and left, and were never heard off again.”

“So why are the important now?” Rossi asked, spreading copies of the folder that Hotch had given him out on the table in front of him.

“We asked Alice for a name, a name of the people who ran Wonderland. And she gave the names Lewis and Marnie. We don’t know it’s definitely them, but she says Wonderland had been established in 1986, that’s the year they went missing. And all of these bodies have been found either at the edge of the Bluedove National Park, or in the surrounding counties. The Goldsteins lived in Kent County, it’s around forty miles away from the National Park.”

“So you’re thinking that Wonderland was some kind of cult then, that Lewis and Marnie set up somewhere in that National Park. That’s a huge area.” JJ tapped her pen on the table, thinking.

“A very large area indeed. People go missing in that Park and are never heard from or seen again.” Garcia spoke, the first time she’d done so all morning.

“So what else do we have here, this is all very intriguing but what do we actually have.”

“Alice presented Reid with a folder containing eight victims, all people she claims to have known. She told us that the group had a symbol, a rabbit. The members had it branded into their lower neck either in the form of an actual tattoo or in some cases an actual branding.” Hotch pointed to the photo of Alices rabbit that he’d blown up. “Alice implied that we should do a search from 1990 onwards for bodies found with this marking, or with an injury where the marking would be. Garcia found 38 cases in total. All found within the Bluedove surrounding area, all with various markings to the neck and all since 1990.”

“So we’ve got ourselves another Manson Family or something.” Derek looked at his colleagues.

“Or something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a big ask but if you’re enjoying my content and you’re financially able to then you may consider buying me a Ko-Fi as a way of financially supporting my writing. Many thanks to you if you do, it means so much to me that anyone might enjoy my work enough to dontate to me
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/cherrywhisp


	9. Chapter 9

Reid had taken part in a similar conversation the previous night after Agent Hotchner had left. Alice had taken herself off for a bath, but not before making Spencer promise that he would retrieve his gun from his bag and wear it.

Ellen Manchester had look horrified at the thought having a gun in the house, she obviously hadn’t clocked Aaron’s. Alice had laughed at her sisters expression.

“All these years I wanted one and you wouldn’t let me. Now, you don’t got a choice but have one in the house.”

“I just didn’t think that anything could be that bad that you’d need one. You wouldn’t tell me why you wanted one so badly.”

Alice sighed and shook her head, tired of this conversation already. She’d had the argument a gazillion times. She wanted a gun for protection but she couldn’t tell them why she needed protection. But the FBI Agent had one, so now her sister had no choice. She could tell that Ellen was still disbelieving that she could be involved in something so bad that FBI had now taken an interest. Alice could barely believe it herself. Those four and a half years seemed like a dream, a nightmare. A nightmare she’d woken up from but could feel it creeping into her day to day life. She’d left the other three adults to it and had gone for a bath, staying in the main house rather than going back to her own apartment.

Part of her knew worries about them finding her were for nothing. If they’d really wanted to, she was sure they could have done it by now. But…. But maybe they were waiting for the right moment. He had told her over and over again that she was the chosen was, the special one. She was going to lead when he could no longer. He’d seen something in her, a spark that he recognised, he wanted to nurture her and show her the way.

She shuddered in the water, shaking the images from her head and sinking down under the water.

..

“So what you’re saying is that my sister in law was part of some kind of doomsday cult?” Robert had said to Spencer.

Spencer sipped his coffee which he’d finally been given. “We’re not sure. And I’m not sure we’d use the term Doomsday either.”

He’d been unsure how much to reveal to Robert and Ellen, as soon as Alice had left the room they’d started to ask questions. When it came down to it, he didn’t want to press his own speculations onto them. Whatever story it was, it was Alices to tell. He’s simply given them the same information about Lewis and Marnie Goldstein that would be available online in the public domain. Enough newspaper articles had been written about their disappearance, Marnies parents had made sure of that. Even though she was elder of the pair and both were no longer minors, her parents had insisted that there was something suspicious about their disappearance, rueing the day that they ever let Lewis into their home and blaming him for leading their daughter astray.

“What term would you use then? From what I’m piecing together here, Alice seems to have been part of a cult, led by a leader that claims to be from the future and is predicting an apocalypse of sorts. Oh, and they appear to be been killing off their members. My baby sister, part of a cult!” Ellen had summed everything up quite aptly and was pacing the kitchen.

“Stop talking about me please.” Alice appeared at the kitchen door, wrapped only in a towel, her hair dripping wet.

“Ally, we’re talking about the situation.” Robert said soothingly.

“And the situation involves me. So stop. Please. I’ll tell the Agents everything tomorrow so I’m sure you’ll both have your curiosity sated then. I’m going back to my apartment. Dr Reid, I have a pull out couch in my room. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if the man with gun was sleeping in there. ”

“Alright. There’s a car picking us up at eight am.” Spencer stood and followed Alice through a door to the side of the back entrance. It led to a ulitility area with a staircase leading up from it and another exit. He averted his eyes as he followed her up the stairs, wishing she was wearing something other than a towel.

When she got another door at the top of the stairs, she pushed it open. Reid could see that it had an outer lock on it which hadn’t been shut. She led him into a open plan apartment, a kitchenette across one side with what he assumed was a bathroom leading off from it. There was a living area, with a large couch and TV as well as a desktop computer, scanner and printer, and a laptop bag. Two huge strategically placed bookcases separated a large bed from the rest of the room and Spencer watched as his companion walked between the cases and dropped her towel as if he wasn’t even there. Spencer spun around, facing the other way and waited until he heard her voice again before turning.

When her looked at her again she was dressed in an oversized t-shirt.

“Sorry. I’m not used to having company.” Was all she said to him before walking over to a closet and pulling out some blankets and a pillow.

“The couch pulls out into a bed. Can I see your gun please?”

Spencer took it out and held it out to her. She eyed it carefully.

“Smith and Wesson Model 65?” She asked him and he nodded in surprise.

“Thats not an FBI approved gun.”

“I have a waiver for it. I find it easier to operate than others.”

“But you CAN operate others right?”

He nodded and allowed her to take his gun out of his hands, watching her handle it.

“I prefer Desert Eagles or Glocks.”

“Alice, you know guns?”

She checked the chambers making sure it was loaded and handed it back to him.

“I know guns. I know how to fire them, how to assemble them and how to clean them. We were taught how to defend ourselves at the compound.”

“Defend yourselves from what?”

“Everything and anything else.”

“Alice, what hap…..”

“I’m going to sleep now Dr Reid. I’m tired. Feel free to use my shower or to watch TV. Make yourself at home. I have a feeling you’ll be assigned to me until you’ve got the information that you need.”

So did he.

…

When he awoke the next day, she was fully dressed and sitting on the floor by her bed, sorting items out from a box under her bed. There were Polaroids, which she had piled up along with a small box. When she felt his eyes on her, she glanced up.

“Sleep well Dr Reid?” She asked, much calmer than he’d heard her so far. It was then that he realised that his gun as no longer it’s holster and was by her bed.

“Please, call me Spencer. I keep telling you that. How did you sleep?” His eyes flickered to the weapon, wondering at what point she’d taken it.

“Better than I have in a while. Knowing that there’s an armed federal agent in my room definitely helped.”

“I’m not sure what good I’d have been though if anything did happen, considering my weapon is all the way over there.”

She gave him a very childish grin. “Sorry. You can have it back.” She placed it on the wooden floor and slid it across to him.

Spencer tossed the blankets back and pulled on his courdroys which he’d discarded last night to sleep and then padded across to her, picking up his gun as he went.

“What are you looking at, Alice?” He settled onto the floor across from her, crossing his long legs under him.

“You can call me Ally, you know. Ellen and Rob always do.” She handed him some Polaroids and he leafed through them.

“Which do you prefer?”

She shrugged and slid the small box over to him as well.

“Alright, I’ll call you Ally if you start calling me Spencer rather than Dr Reid.”

He opened up the small box, seeing that it contained leather bracelets. The same ones he’d seen in the photo she’d given him before.

“You all wore these?”

She nodded. “The tattoos are too low down our necks to be easily seen. We wore these on our wrists so we could easily spot our family…. I mean, the other members.”

“Children wore only one though.” He continued to sort through the photos seeing pictures of happy looking people going about their day to day life. From he could tell in the photos, the compound looked self sufficient, there were shots of people tending to chickens, grooming horses, photos of what appeared to be a school lesson in progress.

“Yes. The children wore only one until they came of age and were matched.”

“Matched?”

She looked at him, focusing her eyes on his.

“Yes. Matched. See Meg here?” She tapped a face on a photo. “Meg was nineteen before they decided on a suitable match for her, one she was happy with. A band on your right arm signified you were underage and therefore off limits. When you turned 16, it was moved to the left arm to show that you had come of age. When you were matched, you wore a band on both arms.”

Spencer assumed that being ‘matched’ was their version of being wed.

“Was everyone matched then?”

“Not everyone. There were a few people who chose to remain loners, and a lot of the younger people didn’t want to be matched straight away. They wanted to have fun. They didn’t force you into a match if you didn’t want to be. That was the good thing.”

Spencer recalled the photo of Alice, bands on both arms.

“Ally, how old were you when you were matched?”

“The ceremony took place on my seventeenth birthday.” She locked eyes with him again.

“Who were you matched to?” He knew the answer to the question before he’d even asked it.

“Lewis.”


	10. Chapter 10

Spencer and Alice arrived at the BAU an hour later, Ellen and Robert in tow. The car had arrived on time, and had driven directly into the buildings parking structure meaning that if anyone HAD been watching the building, they wouldn’t have seen Alice enter it. She was pleased about that part at least.

She followed Dr Reid through the halls to the BAUs offices, feeling eyes on her as she entered. Agent Hotchner was stood with a group of people, profilers she presumed knowing what happened on this floor. When he saw her, he strode over.

“Alice, thank you for coming. Let me introduce you to the rest of mine and Dr Reids team and then we’ll get started. They’re fully briefed on what you’ve told us so far.”

He led her over the small group of people, Spencer walking instep with her.

“Alright so these are Agents Jennifer Jareau, Derek Morgan and David Rossi.”

“I know you.” Alice turned to the older man of the group.

“I imagine you do if you’re taking Professor Frosts class.” He greeted her, giving her a warm smile. She smiled back feeling somewhat at ease with these people, particularly David Rossi. She’d read all of his books and greatly admired his work.

“And this is our technical analyst Penelope Garcia.” Agent Hotchner turned to a cheerful looking blonde woman who wore bright green glasses and pink shoes. She smiled at Alice as well.

“Team this is Alice Manchester, or Alice Bradley as she was known. Alice had kindly agreed to come in to talk to us about her experience and to help us work through this case.”

He turned to Spencer. “Dr Reid, can you get set up in interview room 2 please. Dave will accompany you.” He’d seen the recognition that Alice had for Rossi and thought it might do better if she was interviewed by two people she knew, or at least knew of. He’d be the other side of the glass listening.

Spencer nodded and led Alice away. Her sister and brother in law lagged behind.

“Why are we here, exactly?” Ellen asked the Agent.

“Because we’ll need to interview you both about Alice’s behaviour when she returned home, and I imagine you both want answers as well. She won’t talk with you to in the room, she made that much clear last night. But you can remain behind the glass with myself.”

“Just to be clear here, Alice isn’t in any trouble here is she? She’s not under arrest or anything?” Robert spoke, a worried look on his face.

“No, she’s not. She’s assisting us with what has the potential to be a very confusing case. At the moment she’s the only witness we’ve got.”

Hotch gave orders to the other team members, before leading Robert and Ellen through to the room where they could watch Alices interview. Through the glass he could see Rossi handing both Dr Reid and Alice coffee before settling down with one himself. He said something to the girl that made her laugh, her shoulders relaxing, Hotch couldn’t hear it as he hadn’t flicked the switch that allowed their voices to be heard but he was pleased to see that she looked more at ease. This would be easier that way.

“If you’d like to take a seat then I’ll go and tell them to begin when ready.” Aaron left the room and knocked three times on the interview room door before entering.

“We’re ready when you are. Take your time Alice and remember, we will protect you at all costs if you can lead us to the people that have murdered these 38 and possibly more, victims.”

“Are they next door too?” She nodded to the glass, not knowing that she was actually looking directly at her sister, their eyes locked through the two way mirror.

“Yes. But if you’ve changed your mind and don’t want them to here this, then I can move them to a different room. I’ll be in there with them, and I’ll be feeding any names or information you give us to our Technical Analyst Penelope.”

“It’s fine. At least now they’ll know.” Looking directly at the glass she spoke again. “Please don’t hate me.”

Spencer shifted in his chair, picking up the box of photos and the bracelets that Alice had allowed him to bring. He handed one particular photo to Hotch, a photo that showed Alice with both Lewis and Marnie Goldstein.

Aaron viewed it carefully and nodded, taking it with him as he exited the room.

“Where do you want me to start.” Alice asked Spencer, taking a sip of the hot coffee in front of her.

“At the beginning.”


	11. Chapter 11

“ _Becca, I’m bored. I’m gonna walk back to the library and see if they’ve got the rest of the Harry Potters back in.” Alice hauled herself up from the towel she’d been sunbathing on and pulled her t-shirt over her bikini top._

“ _Kay’ babe. I’m gonna stay here and toast myself for a little longer.” Becca rolled over on to her front and peered up from beneath her sunglasses._

“ _Sure that’s not the only reason you’re staying?” Ally nodded over to the three guys who were fishing out on the lake, the same three guys that had been there almost every day that week, except they were normally accompanied by a fourth. Becca had a huge crush on one of them and would stretch out everytime their boat would pass by her spot on the shore._

“ _They normally pack up in an hour or so and I wanna be right here when they walk past. Today’s the day I’m gonna talk to him.”_

“ _Sure it is.” Ally rolled her eyes at her friend and shoved her feet back into her sandals, grabbing the tote bag she’d bought with her. “I’ll be back by five. Remember, Rachel wants us home by six tonight.”_

“ _Ugh.” Becca grunted and went back to people, well , guy watching, and Alice started marking her way down the well worn dirt track and out onto the main road._

_She was enjoying her summer so far, Beccas Dad Ben and her stepmom Rachel were nice and they left the two girls pretty much to their own devices, only imposing a 6pm dinner time curfew and a 11pm evening curfew on them. Most days were spent by the lake that Rylon county was centered around, although Alice had soon run out of reading material and had borrowed Rachel’s library card to be able to check out books. She couldn’t just sit and sunbathe like Becca could, she needed something to do. They were going to be here for another seven weeks and at the rate she was going, Alice was going to have devoured the whole of the small towns library by then._

_She walked the short distant to the building that housed the books she sought after and started perusing them. The latest Harry Potter had been released a few weeks before and she’d been able to purchase it when Rachel and Ben took the girls to the Target a few towns over. Now Ally wanted to reread the series, but the last two times she’d visited the library, book number four hadn’t been there. This time it was, and she swooped upon it with glee, adding it to a pile of five other books she’d found. They’d keep her busy for a few days._

_She checked them out using Rachel’s card, the librarian smiling at her the way they did when they recognised an avid reader. As she existed the building she felt someone crash into her, her tote bag dropping to the floor and her books spilling out._

“ _Hey! Watch….. ” She was about to berate the stranger but stopped mid sentence, seeing that it was fourth boy from the lake. Tall and handsome with a jaw that could cut glass, he smiled at her apologetically and bent down to help retrieve her books._

“ _I’m so sorry, that’s my fault entirely. I was in such a rush to get here before they closed.” Handing the books back, he kept his grasp onto the Goblet Of Fire._

“ _It’s okay. It’s probably my fault too. I’m so clumsy anyway.”_

“ _Now I’m sure that’s not true.”_

_The boy and Ally looked at each other for a moment, both grinning until Alice realised that he still had her book. She held her hand out for it and he smiled cheekily._

“ _This library only holds one copy of every book.” He told her._

“ _And? It’s a small library.”_

“ _Well… I’ve been coming in here everyday, specifically for this book. And you have it.”_

“ _You’re a Potter fan?” Alice was surprised, he looked to be at least eighteen or nineteen._

“ _I’m a huge HP fan. I wanted to reread all of the books but one of the kids back at home has borrowed number four and none of them are owning up to it.”_

“ _A little brother or sister?”_

“ _You could say that.”_

_Alright._

“ _Can’t you just search their rooms or tell your Mom on them?” Ally asked._

“ _Well, if I knew which one of the little buggers it was I could.”_

“ _Christ, how many siblings do you have?”_

_The guy grinned again, flashing straight pearly teeth at her. “They’re not exactly siblings as such. We all live together, but there’s around thirty children there all together. Actually.. thirty one I think now. One of the moms just had another baby.”_

_Alice was even more confused now._

“ _It’s complicated.” He told her, seeing her expression. “Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to get around to asking is: do you think you’d let me take this one first? I can have it back to you in a few days time, I see you most days at the lake with your friend.”_

“ _Erm…. I mean…. It’s already checked out, and it’s not on my card… And if something happened to it, I’d be in trouble.” Ally shifted from one foot to another._

“ _I promise you, nothing will happen to it. I shall guard it with my life, I swear it. Plus… It gives me a reason to come and speak to you again.”_

_He was right and she definitely wanted that._

“ _Okay, I mean I guess it could be alright this once. But you have to bring it back in a few days. I can’t move onto the Order Of The Phoenix otherwise.”_

“ _I will. No more than two days I promise. I’m Charles by the way, Charlie to most people.” He held his hand out to her for her to shake and she took it, feeling the worn calloused texture of his fingers._

“ _Ally. Alice really but most people shorten it.”_

“ _Well Alice, it’s great to meet you. And I look forward to returning this to you. I gotta run now, I gotta run a few more errands around town before I pick up my brothers.”_

“ _Your actual brothers this time?” Ally enquired._

“ _Two of the guys you see me with at the lake are, yes. The other is someone else from home.”_

_Alice was very intrigued to find out where exactly home was and why there was apparently so many children living there. Maybe she’d learn more next time. Either way, she knew she was looking forward to seeing Charlie again._

...

“Alright so who was Charlie?” Spencer asked Alice as she reached for her water bottle. She’d been talking for about an hour now, literally starting right from the beginning.

“Charles was one of Lewis and Marnies sons. He was the second eldest. He was eighteen when I met him.”

“So was he the reason you ended up at the compound?” Agent Rossi sipped on his now cold coffee.

“Yes and no. He bought me the book back two days later as planned and we got talking. Becca loved it because it gave her a reason to talk to his oldest brother, Eric; the one she’d been crushing on. I kept asking about his home and why there were so many kids there and after a few days of chatting he told me. He explained that he lived in a kind of ‘commune’, he called it. Around one hundred and fifty people lived together, they all looked after it. I was intrigued, he told me it was almost entirely self sufficient, they had animals, some crops, they’d rigged up solar panels and generators. He said he loved it there, he’d grown up there, all part of one big family.”

And to someone who’d lost their parents at a young age and had a troubled relationship with her sister, a family was what Alice craved, Spencer thought to himself.

“That National Park is looked after by rangers though. I don’t understand how a community of that many people could be living there and no one know about it.” Rossi pondered out loud.

“If you were to have a look into the finances of the park rangers, I’m sure you’ll see why. They were paid off. I’m not sure how much, but they used to come by each month and collect payment from Lewis or one of the other elders. Wonderland wasn’t easy to stumble upon either. You had to know where you were going, being able to read the signs.”

“So how did you and Rebecca Olson find yourselves there then?” Spencer spoke this time.

“Simple. We asked to go. And they took us.”

 


	12. Chapter 12

“So what happened then. What made you ask to go?” Rossi leant forward, leaning on his hands.

Alice shrugged. “I liked Charlie and Becca liked Eric. They kept coming back to talk to us and the way they talked about their home made us curious. It was approaching the end of the summer and neither of us wanted to go home.” She hesitated, knowing Ellen was listening and then continued. “I didn’t want to go back to somewhere I felt unwanted and Becca didn’t want to go back to her Moms. Her stepdad was a bit…. shall we say touchy feely with her, but she didn’t want to stay with Ben and Rachel because Rachel was pregnant. If I look back now, it’s clear that we both were craving a family and the way Charlie talked about Wonderland was that it was one big happy family. They all looked out for each other, they all pitched in and there were always so many jobs to do that it was never boring. So we asked if we could go.”

“And you had no clue it was a cult?” Rossi asked her.

“Sir, does anyone that joins a cult, ever think that they’re actually joining a cult? No. They don’t. To us, we were running away to join a family, one where we’d be welcomed and appreciated. They had to check with the elders first, but they came back to us three days after we told them we wanted in and they told us if we wanted to go, it had to be that night and that they’d pick us up at midnight. So we packed up our things, emptied our savings and snuck out when Beccas parents had gone to bed.”

“How did you get there?” Spencer asked her.

“They gave us a meeting point and they picked us up. We couldn’t see where we were going, we were blindfold until we got to the compound. They said that newcomers weren’t allowed to know the way in and out for the first few months. Until they were sure.”

“Until who was sure, exactly. And of what?”

Alice looked down at the table for a moment before looking Spencer directly in the eyes. “At first I thought they meant it was until we were sure we wanted to stay. Now I realise it was until they were sure that they wanted to keep us. Once they decided you were useful or that you had some sort of purpose to them, to the cause. No one ever left of their own accord, at least not alive. I didn’t understand that until later on in my stay there.”

“I still don’t… I don’t understand. You said that the compound had a curfew, so you could leave freely as long as you came back by a certain time.” Spencer recalled the conversation from the previous evening.

“You could leave, but not freely. You had to be accompanied by at least two other people, and you had to have a reason for leaving, like going on a stores run, or to the lakes to fish. Only certain people had a key to the gates and to the few cars they had.”

“Im sorry.. Gates. In the middle of the Bluedove National Park?” Rossi was now looking even more confused.

“I know right… Bear in mind this place has been there since the mid eighties and they’d been paying off the rangers. The compound was walled in. But the walls were well hidden by trees and bushes that they’d replanted around them. Even the roof tops of the buildings were camouflaged with gardens planted on top of them. Lewis was a mastermind, he’d literally thought of everything. If you didn’t know where it was, you wouldn’t find it.”

“And if people DID stumble upon it accidentally? Surely they’d be confused as there’s no record of any dwellings in that area that we can find.” Rossi commented.

“Then I guess that would account for some of the bodies found without marks on their necks.” Alice replied.

“Alright, so tell us what happened when you first got there.” Spencer asked softly, watching Alice close her eyes and start talking.

…

_Their first few days had been strange. When Ally and Becca has arrived in the middle of the night, having spent over an hour with musty burlap sacks over their heads, they’d been greeted by relative quietness. The camp, if you could call it that, was asleep, aside from a few people on some sort of security watch. Ally had looked around in awe, unable to believe that this place with in the middle of a National Park. It seemed more like a tiny village that it did a camp in the woods. Low brick and wooden buildings were scattered everywhere, all placed near to groupings of trees. There were quite a few larger buildings set around, perhaps meeting places, a school maybe given the amount of children Charlie had said there would be. She could hear horses winnying nearby in a barn, hear grass hoppers and crickets chirping their midnight song. It all seemed very surreal. Like she stepped into another world._

_Charlie and Eric led the two girls into a house, showing them to a room with three sets on bunk beds in. Charlie lit a few candles that were sat on a night stand, leaving the box of matches next to them._

_“You’ll sleep in here for a few days, until the elders figure out where to put you both. This is the main house, our Mom and Dad sleep in the rooms either side of you. You’ll meet them in the morning.” Eric hauled their things into the room with them and then the boys left the two girls alone._

_“What do you think?” Ally turned to Becca, seeing her older friend looking nervous._

_“I’m not sure yet. I’m not sure what I was expecting.”_

_“Me neither.”_

_The girls shed their day clothes and changed into their pajama, both climbing into the bottom bunks that were made up already, soft white sheets and army regulation blankets for covers._

_The first night Alice barely slept. She could hear creaking in the house, the noise of talking in the room next door. She’d found it odd that Eric had seemed to imply that his parents slept separately. Maybe that was just the way they did things here. She was excited and nervous, hoping they’d be accepted into the fold and hardly giving any thought to the life and family she’d left behind. Ellen wouldn’t care, she’d be too caught up in her job and new boyfriend. She’d be pleased that she didn’t have to deal with her whiny younger sister._

_When the girls woke up the next morning, it was to a soft knocking on the bedroom door. They looked at each other, bleary eyed until Becca cleared her throat, coughing and then timidly saying “Come in.”_

_The door opened to reveal a woman who appeared to be in her mid forties, with long blonde hair that was loose. She wore shorts and a t-shirt, the same leather bracelets that Charlie and Eric wore on her wrist, except she wore them on both arms. Her shorts revealed strong legs, stuffed into sturdy boots and her arms looked well toned. She smiled at the two newcomers kindly._

_“I hope you both slept well. I know how scary it can be coming to a new place. I’m Marnie. Would you like to come through and have some breakfast. The boys and Lewis are out on morning activity, they’ll be back later. We’re so looking forward to welcoming you to our home and teaching you our ways. We’re all one big family here, we look after each other.”_

_Alice and Becca looked at each other and then back to Marnie. One big family was what they both wanted. That was why they’d come here. One by one, they slid out of their beds and followed Marnie out into the hall, wondering what today would bring._


	13. Chapter 13

_Ally and Rebecca had been at the compound for a while now and had both slotted in quite nicely. After their first breakfast with Marnie, she’d taken them around, introducing them to the other residents going about on their daily chores and explaining all of the things that went on each day._

_Well, not ALL of the things. Ally didn’t find out until a lot later that there was a much darker side to Wonderland, the side that had made her run. But for the most part, their first three years there were good. Unlike the rest of the teenagers, they’d been invited to stay in the main house rather than moved to the dormitories where the unmatched but of age girls and boys slept. Lewis had explained matching to them one evening when the girls had accompanied him to the stables to get the horses that they kept, settled for the night._

_“Matching is like our version of being wed to someone, except someone might not necessarily have just the one match. Marnie for example has two right now and I’ve had multiple matches in the past although right now I only have the one. If you want to be matched with someone though, it has to be declared. We have a ceremony to celebrate it and then if the person you’re matched with doesn’t have their own hut to live in, your brothers and sisters here will build you one.”_

_Initially Alice had thought this had sounded off and creepy, but the more it was talked about and the more Alice saw how happy Marnie was having essentially two partners, the less weird it seemed._

_Lewis always captivated Alice, there was something about the way he spoke to the two girls. Not treating them as if they were teenagers or silly little girls the way some adults back at home had. He spoke to them as if they were equals. Some nights when Ally found herself unable to sleep, she crept out to the front porch, sitting out under the stars and watching them. Lewis would almost always be out there too, looking up at the sky. It was one of those nights out there that he explained to her how Wonderland had come to be and what it’s true purpose was._

_Alice had been shocked and disbelieving to begin with, but the more Lewis had spoken about his past… well the future really, the more she found herself wondering if what he was saying was actually possible. All of adults here at Wonderland knew about his story and accepted it, all believing that they were there for a reason, to help prepare for the world to fall, preparations to be able to repopulate it so that their group would prosper in a time of war and famine. He painted a terrifying picture of the world, one she didn’t want to be a part of._

_“We don’t normally tell the children until they’re eighteen, Alice. It can scare them somewhat, especially as the children here will be the elders of that world and it will be their children that will be responsible for recreating it.” He’d leant forward and brushed a piece of her brown hair back so he could see into her deep green eyes._

_“Why are you telling me then?” Ally asked quietly._

_“When Charlie told me he’d met a young girl named Alice, a girl who seemed so lost; I knew it had to be you. I knew you’d find your way here to me at some point, they’d said you would, my people from my previous life. But I’d lost the memory of how they said you’d come to me.”_

_He locked eyes with her, his sparkling blue eyes staring deep into her soul._

_“You’re special Alice. The most special one. It’s our children who will rule when the world falls, our children who will lead. And you’ll help. I won’t be around for it and neither will Marnie, but you will. You’ll teach them, you’ll lead them, you’ll train them. People don’t see how truly exceptional you are, but I do.”_

_Ally was speechless, she felt warm and lightheaded. All her life she’d wanted to hear that she was special, because she was. She knew it. She knew she must have had a purpose in life and this must be it, her brains and wits weren’t going to go to waste after all. She was here for a reason. But…_

_“Our children?” She whispered seeing Lewis smile._

_“Yes, my darling Ally. Marnie knows you’re the one too. She’s heard the stories about the woman who will take over from us, she’s pleased it’s you, she adores you. On your seventeenth birthday we’ll take part in a matching ceremony, if you’ll consent to it. Marnie will perform it and Charlie will give your hand to me, he bought you to me after all. Will you consent, my dear sweet girl?”_

_Alice took no time at all to nod. She’d been taken in by him completely, intoxicated by his words, his prophecies of the future where she was a leader, a teacher. And Lewis was beautiful, long brown hair that fell to his shoulders in messy waves and piercing blue eyes. He was twice her age at least, the soul inside of his body even older still, he had come from a different time after all. But age didn’t matter. What mattered was that she integral to the future of the Earth._

_She smiled at him warmly. “I consent.”_

…

On the other side of the two way glass, Ellen Manchester had her hand clasped to her mouth as she listened to her baby sister telling her tale.

“Robert…. Are you you hearing this, is this even legal? She was seventeen.”

“Sixteen is the age of consent in the state that the Bluedove National Park falls in. Their marriage won’t be legal if she went ahead with it, but technically if it was consummated, they won’t have broken any laws.” Agent Hotchner told them, studying Alices body language.

She was telling the truth with everything she was saying, he could read that much. The younger version of the woman in front of him had been fully taken in by this man who claimed to be from the future. Aaron did find it odd that he’d been so fixated on her though. Alice was an attractive girl but Rebecca Olson had been more conventionally attractive. And that little bit older. It seemed this man really did believe that him and Marnie Goldstein did have a higher purpose, and that Alice was somehow involved in it.

“It’s time we took a break. You need to compose yourself before you speak with your sister again, Mrs Manchester. You can’t be seen to be shocked or disgusted by anything she’s revealing to us.”

“Im… I’m…” Ellen stuttered, unable to take everything in.

“Robert, there’s a cafeteria on the first floor. I’ll have someone escort both of you there and bring you back when the interview resumes. It’s better if Alice doesn’t see her sister struggling with this information.”

Robert nodded, understanding what the Agent was saying and taking his wifes hand. He too was having a hard time digesting all of this information his sister in law coming out with, all of these stories of what had happened to her. It was no wonder her behaviour had been strange and bordering on eccentric. It was no wonder she’d been terrified of everything and anything when she’d first come home. Poor Ally. He followed the Agent that SSA Hotchner had summoned, leading his wife away and looking back to see him entering the interview room.

“It’s time to take a break Alice. You’ve been doing really well. We’ll get you some food, anything you want and then this afternoon, we’ll need to know what happened after the matching ceremony. Why you’re so certain that these bodies came from Wonderland.”

She nodded and let out a huge breath, blinking a few times.

Spencer turned to her, smiling at her softly. “What do you fancy for lunch, Ally?”

“Pizza.” She told him, colour returning to her cheeks which had paled as she’d been recalling details of her missing years.

“My favourite” the Dr told her.


	14. Chapter 14

Agent Hotchner joined Ellen and Robert in the cafeteria where they were eating, both quietly discussing the things they’d heard Alice talking about. They stopped when they looked up to see Aaron hovering by them, pointing to a chair to ask if he could join them.

“Can I asked you some questions about how Alice was when she returned?” He said to the couple, switching on a hand held tape recorder when they nodded.

“You said originally you got a phone call one day from her and she was in a diner three hours away from your home. That would be Alice’s childhood home, yes? You didn’t move out of the house your parents left you until a few years back?”

“That’s right, yes. I remember doing laundry one day, I was off work because I’d worked a weekend shift and the phone rang, it was about seven thirty am. When I answered I could barely make out the person on the other end. It sounded like a terrified little girl. I threatened to hang up, I though it was a prank call and then I heard her voice clearer and she said her name. She begged me to come and pick her up and I did. Alice managed to get the zip code from the diner owner so I could find out where she was. She was about an hour or so drive from Rylon County where she’d gone missing.”

“And she didn’t tell you where she’d been?”

“No.” Ellen shook her head. “All she’d say was that she’d escaped, and she could never go back. She fell asleep in the back seat of the car and I had to wake her to get her into the house.”

“And then?”

“She stuffed herself full of food and passed out again, dead asleep. She didn’t wake until the next day. It was quite a shock for Robert when he came home from work to find her there.”

“So what happened when Alice woke up the next day?” Aaron asked.

“She showered and dressed in some of my old clothes, but she still wouldn’t say where she’d been, only that she’d needed to escape. She asked me ‘how far away am I?’ and I said ‘from what?’. She replied with 'from yesterday.’ I remember that conversation so clearly because it seemed like such an odd thing for her to say. I told her were a three hour drive from where I picked up, if that was what she meant and she seemed happy with that information.”

“But you didn’t take her to a hospital or call the police?”

Robert took over from him wife. “No. Alice didn’t appear to have any obvious injuries apart from the needle marks on her arms, although she didn’t seem to be high or suffering withdrawal from anything. When we wanted to call the police she told us no, that THEY’D find her and get her if we did. She seemed so frightened of something and no matter how much we assured her that she was safe, she wouldn’t let us. So we gave up trying. A few months later she asked if she could start using my surname and we agreed. If it made her feel safer then it was okay by me.”

“She’s got a drivers license issued in that name though?” Hotch commented, seeing the sheepish look on Roberts face, and making a mental note to get Spencer to ask about the needle marks.

“It’s a fake. She made it herself, she’d always been a whizz with computers and things, according to Ellen. I was shocked at how realistic it looked.”

“So what about afterwards, her behaviour.”

Robert continued talking, Ellen now eating her lunch silently, picking apart her food. “She…. I don’t know how different she was from before, I’d only just started dating Ellen when she went missing. But she did have odd behaviour. She’d… She come out of the bathroom after showering, not wearing any clothes or a towel and on a few occasions, she’d come into our bedroom when we were…. Erm, making love. She’d just stand there in a daze until we’d realise and shout at her. Then she’d burst into tears and look really shocked. We used to find soiled bed clothes in the laundry as well, where she’d wet the bed and tried to hide it, but that stopped after a while of her being back.”

Robert carried on, listing how Alice would hide in her closet sometimes and would refuse to leave the house between certain hours if at all. It was only when Ellen threatened her with being taken to a psychiatrist that Alice started trying to reign in her weird quirks. What Robert found equally strange was that despite her behaviour, he could sit down with Ally and talk to her for hours about books and TV shows, and she’d be fine. He’d found his sister in law to be very smart, and an avid reader and when they’d bought her a laptop, she’d spend hours online.

Aaron didn’t find the behaviour odd at all. Given what the girl had apparently been through, it could have been a lot worse. Bed wetting, sudden outbursts of emotion, possible sleepwalking by the sounds of it; they were the least of what could have been happened.

Robert spoke again. “Sir, IS Alice in danger?”

“Honestly, we’re still trying to dertimine that.”

….

Back on the BAU floor and Spencer had taken Alice to the break out area, where Morgan had ordered pizza for them both, leaving them to it as they ate. The team seemed to realise that Spencer had connected with this girl and that if she was going to talk, it would be to him.

Alice shovelled a piece of pizza into her mouth, licking the grease off her fingers and feeling a pair of eyes on her. She glanced up at Dr Reid, seeing him watching her.

“Whatever you’re thinking, just ask it. You’ll soon find out if I’ll answer you or not.” She was used to that look, the curiosity on his face, it was one her sister and Robert often wore.

“Alright. Did you really believe Lewis? What he said about the future?” He brushed a lock of hair back behind his ears as he waited to see if she’d answer.

“I didn’t want to. It’s absurd what he was saying, how COULD he be from the future, it’s just not possible. But… The more I listened, and the more he talked, the more I found myself believing him. Now, I don’t see how it could be true, but then….. I dunno. He talked with such conviction and he’d built up that place and was preparing for something he said would happen in the future, a future he wouldn’t be around for. You had to have been there, to listen to him speak.”

Spencer had interviewed enough manipulative psychopaths and had seen enough tapes of cult leaders to know how charismatic they could be, how they could woo a person with words and body language, and convince even the most intelligent or the most skeptical of people that their words, their way, was the right one. It was a skill, a skill they actually learnt in the BAU in order to talk unsubs down when they needed to, it was something that Spencer himself was very good at, being able to disarm people with words rather than weapons.

Alice spoke again. “Dr Reid, I know that you probably think I’m stupid for having fallen for his lies but….”

“Ally, I don’t think you’re stupid at all. I know how these people work.” He interrupted her and she smiled slightly.

“Thank you but what I was going to say was, that I don’t think he was fooling people on purpose. I still think that Lewis genuinely believes that he’s from the future. He genuinely thinks that was he was doing, what he is still doing I presume, is the only way that his followers will survive.”

Spencer knew that if that was the case, then this person would be a lot harder to deal with than someone who was trying to manipulate for their own good.

“Are you ready to go back? We have more questions to ask you.”

“I’m ready. I think.”


	15. Chapter 15

After lunch, Alice was escorted back to the interview room and continued to tell the two agents tales about her life at Wonderland. How life after she’d been ‘matched’ didn’t really change. She just continued to go about her day to day duties with Marnie and Becca and the other residents.

_Ally revelled in the importance that being matched to Lewis gave her, the other residents always smiling at her, looking up to her. Lewis had told her that they all knew that she was the one who was going to lead their children through the fall of the world. Alice still didn’t get to go to the meetings that the other elders had though. She wouldn’t be allowed into them until she was nineteen. She didn’t know how Lewis and Marnie came to decide that someone could be matched at sixteen but not involved in important camp decisions until nineteen, but she accepted it as Gospel. Like she accepted everything else she was told._

_The only difference between life before being matched and life after was that Lewis would come to her on certain nights, Marnie helping her strip her bedsheets and wash out the blood after the first time. “You’re a woman now” she’d told her, stroking a lock of Alice’s hair back._

_Lewis would come to her every full moon without fail and during these times, he wouldn’t use any protection. Any other time during the month he would, but not when it was a full moon._

_“Our children, the leaders of the future world, were all conceived under full moons. Just like you were.”_

_He’d shown Alice a lunar chart, dating back years. If she calculated when her parents had probably conceived her, it had in fact pointed to a full moon, so she happily believed him and allowed him to have his way, even enjoying it. Her children, they were going to be important, they were going to be saviours._

“And you never once fell pregnant?” Agent Rossi raised his eyes to Alice in question.

“Is my sister still out there watching this?” she asked, glancing to the mirror.

“No. Agent Hotchner has had them escorted home. Your sister…. She got upset during lunch, and we thought it best she return home.” Spencer told her.

Alice nodded. “Yes I fell pregnant. I fell pregnant three times and miscarried each time, a few months in.” Her eyes flickered between the two Agents and then back to the mirror on the wall, staring at her own reflection for a moment.

“I’m sorry to hear that Alice, that must have been very hard for you.” Rossi’s gentle tones filled the room.

“I’m not sorry. So please don’t be sorry on my behalf.”

Dave glanced at Spencer, a message passing between the two.

“Ally, we need to ask about the bodies. Why did these people end up dead and why were their bodies dumped.”

“Because we killed them.”

Alice’s statement hung in the air.

We.

Not they. We.

“Ally. Can you explain?”

..

_Ally had turned nineteen a month ago, and was finally getting to sit in on her first meeting.  She sat nervously next between Rebecca and Marnie, watching Lewis address the room of adults. Not all of the camp were there. They didn’t all need to be there, Lewis had told her when he’d explained years ago how things went._

_There was a group of fifteen to twenty people who made all of the decisions in camp, Lewis having the ultimate power to overrule which he said would eventually fall to her when the time was right._

_Today they were discussing a fellow camper who went by the name of Thomas. Alice knew that wasn’t his actual name. She’d found out not long after she and Rebecca first came to Wonderland that many people checked their actual names at the door, choosing something different in order to escape their previous life._

_“Do we have to change our names?” she’d asked Marnie at breakfast one morning, when they’d joined the rest of the camp in the big hall rather than eating in their own house. Lewis was at the other end of the table, speaking to the men who were in charge of general security at the camp, making sure the wall was maintained and walking the perimeter at night._

_“Not when you have such a pretty name like Alice.” Charlie had told her, grinning widely before continuing “ultimately it’s up to you. Some people change theirs because they don’t want to be associated with the life they had before they came here.”_

_“Charlie, how did people find out about this place?”_

_“Well I know that when it first started, Lewis and Marnie had made contact with an already existing ‘family’ who lived down Utah. They found them through a newspaper I believe, and exchanged correspondence via letter before they decided to set up a new camp together. There were about twelve of them, Sarah, George and Matthew all came from that group. Once it was established, they used their contacts to regroup other members, and then around ten years ago, a Web page was set up giving details of how to contact us.”_

_“But how did they… Me and Becca were blindfolded? How did other people get here?”_

_“Ahhh, yes. Mom and Dad set up the site although we have to go into town to check it, we can’t get decent enough signal this far into woods. That’s one of the reasons we go into town so often, to use the computers at the library. Although we alternate who goes and which library in which town. We pick up any messages that have come through the site and bring the details of the people wanting to join us, back to camp for the elders to discuss. Once Lewis and the others have decided if someone can join or not, then we tell them where to wait and when.” Charlie switched between referring to his parents as Mom and Dad and their given names. It confused Ally sometimes as she genuinely forgot that he and Eric were the leaders sons. It confused her even more after she and Lewis were matched. Was Charlie her step son? It seemed so odd._

_“How many requests do you get?” Alice was intrigued as in the two months she’d been there, she’d not seen any newcomers._

_“Not many. But it’s only a few minutes out of each trip, and we have to come into town to get certain supplies and to do business anyway. Before you and Rebecca, the last new people were seven months ago.”_

“There’s a website?” Rossi’s’ eyes widened at this new information.

Alice nodded. “I don’t know the name and I never got to see it. I was allowed out of the compound eventually, but never back into town. Lewis told me I was too important to risk anything happening to me.”

Spencer and Dave both knew that Hotch would be outside, telling Penelope to find this site and find it quickly. If anyone could do it, it was Penelope Garcia.

“Alice, tell us about Thomas.” Dr Reid coaxed her gently.

_“Thomas isn’t recovering at all. I think he might be too far gone for us to help him.” Molly, one of the elders had taken the stand, speaking to the group of people that were assembled, Ally taking a place between Lewis and Marnie at her first elders meeting._

_Molly had been a nurse in her previous life, and she and Oliver, an ex Doctor, presided over the small building that had become the infirmary. The supplies they had at the compound were limited but they worked well with what they had. Ally had been in the infirmary multiple times, as had everyone on the compound. Once a month, everyone was required to visit to donate blood for storage, a procedure Ally hated. Because of her blood type, O negative, she was often asked to go in twice as she was only the second person on the camp to have that type, the other being Lewis. Since she’d turned seventeen, she’d found herself in there more often than she liked due to her miscarriages, although she was generally segregated from any other ill residents. Alice had found herself in the medical supply room accidentally one day, and although she’d been told that supplies were short, she was surprised to see how many drugs and equipment they did actually have. But then again, she was finding herself surprised a lot, the older she got._

_Lewis looked between Oliver and Molly. “You’re saying Thomas is beyond our help.”_

_Oliver nodded, removing his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.“We can’t do anymore for him here. And he’s draining our supplies.”_

_“We’ll see to it tomorrow. Alice can assist, it’s time she stepped up to her duties.”_

_Ally felt her partners hand squeeze her thigh and she looked around confused, seeing the other elders nodding at her. She was confused. What was she assisting with? She looked over to Rebecca who just shook her head at her. Being older and matched to Eric, Rebecca had been invited to a few of these meetings, but not all. She refused to share any details with Alice though, claiming she wasn’t allowed to._

_“Now, onto the next point, Sarah and Sam’s daughter has asked….”_

_The next evening Charlie came to the main house and collected her, interrupting her evening chores and telling her that it was time. He looked at her sadly as he led her down past the infirmary and through the gates to a locked garden that Alice had only been in once or twice before. It was where all the plants and herbs were grown, a lot of them were used in cooking and in the infirmary but some of the plants were grown for specific purposes, such as poppies. The poppies were a source of income for the camp for a reason it has taken Alice a while to realise. As such, the garden was kept locked to keep out the children._

_Alice was still constantly amazed at how far the compound stretched and how the residents here had achieved so much building wise and still managed to remain hidden. It was due to mixture of good planning, well thought out ideas, and bribery that kept the majority of the area hidden from any walkers who did stumble by. She was astounded even further when Charlie led her into a hut which she didn’t even know existed, one of the pick up trucks they used for supply runs, parked outside._

_Lewis, Oliver, Eric and Rebecca were already there, gathered around a low bench where Thomas lay._

_He’d been in the infirmary for four months, coming down with a sickness that he’d not been able to shake. Ally hadn’t seen Thomas in a while and was shocked by his gaunt and pale appearance. He was shaking on the bench and as she ran her eyes over him, she was concerned to see that his wrists were bound together with rope._

_“Why he is tied up?” She was confused, looking at Charlie and Lewis. Only Lewis met her gaze._

_“To make it easier for you, my love. This is your first task as one of the elders of the group.”_

_Ally had thought they’d be taking Thomas into town, perhaps dropping him close to a hospital if not actually taking him to one. That’s what they did with the sick people right? The residents who went into the infirmary with an illness but didn’t come out. They took them to be taken care of?_

_At least… This is what she’d been told by Marnie when her friend Anna had been taken ill six months ago. Pneumonia they’d told her, Anna’s parents not meeting Alice’s eyes when she came to enquire about how her friend was._

_Oliver handed Lewis a covered platter, removing the cloth to reveal a small pistol, one of the many Alice had been trained how to handle by Bill, the expert marksman and ex marine. Everyone went through gun training when they came of age. It was important, they needed to be able to survive. Some could barely grasp the gun and point, others like Alice and Rebecca had had surprisingly good shots, impressing Bill with their attempts to mark the targets they’d trained with._

_Lewis stepped forward and held out the platter to Alice and she realised what was happening here._

_“No. No no no no no. That’s Thomas. You can’t, I can’t…. Why?”_

_“We’ve all had to do it Ally” Lewis spoke carefully to her._

_“I haven’t, not yet.” Becca piped up and Alice heard something odd in her voice. Something that sounded like resentment._

_“Oh god… Why? Why can’t we take him to the hospital. Please….. Let me take him.” She didn’t know the way but she’d find it, she would._

_“Alice you know why. If we take him to a hospital then there’s a chance he’ll tell people about us.”_

_“So… Let’s treat him. We have drugs, medication. I’ve seen them… ”_

_Lewis spoke again,“Ally, he’s a liability to us. He’s not going to get better, he has cancer.”_

_“People survive cancer all the time.”_

_“Not out here they don’t. And even if they did, we can’t risk him relapsing. We need healthy, strong people here. Healthy and strong people to produce the children of the future. Thomas won’t be able to do that. It’s the only way.”_

_Thomas hadn’t said a thing the whole time, his eyes were closed but Alice could see tears leaking from them._

_“Alice, Thomas understands. So does Laura. They’ve said their goodbyes. They’ve come to terms with it.” Laura was his wife, they’d come to Wonderland together, four years before Alice and Rebecca had._

_She looked around the room again, feeling herself starting to shake._

_“Remember what I’ve told you. You’re a leader Alice. My leader, these people standing beside me, they accept that. You will lead them when I cannot and you will walk besides their children when the world falls. As a leader, you have to make decisions and doing this was one of the decisions the group has come to. We cannot have weaklings, we cannot have liabilities, we cannot have such a drain on our resources and we certainly cannot have someone who could be a risk, set free into the world. You will have to make these decisions too. Now take the weapon and show this man mercy from his suffering. It is for the good of everyone, Thomas included.”_

_“No.”_

_She turned and ran from the hut, not making it to the gate before she heard the sound of a single gun shot._


	16. Chapter 16

_It was Charlie that ran after her and found Alice bent over and dry heaving by the gate.  
He went to put his hand on her back but she pushed him off, angrily._

_“You knew?”_

_He nodded._

_“How many? How many of our friends, our family, how many have been killed because they were ill?”_

_“Ally, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I’m only a few years older than you, remember that. I didn’t know this was happening when I bought you here.”_

_“Yeah right” Alice scoffed “You’re his son, of course you knew.”_

_Charlie shook his head again.“I don’t get any special privileges because I’m a direct descendent. Far from it. It’s you he had the special interest in remember, you and Abby.”_

_Oh god. Abby…_

_“So anyone that’s been ill, anyone that we’ve been told has left of their own accord?”_

_“No one leaves of their own accord. I know this now.”_

_Charlie did look ashamed of himself, and Alice wondered if he really had been kept in the dark until he’d reached nineteen. Even after Alice had been matched to Lewis, she and Charlie had remained good friends. He looked out for her and Abby, he’d comforted her the many times she’d been in the infirmary with her miscarriages and he’d always come with her to hold her hand whenever she was called to give blood, because he knew how much she despised it. It was Charlie that bought her books from his trips into town, that she still wasn’t allowed to go on and it was Charlie who had spent days slapping at her hands when she’d started to itch at the rabbit tattoo all residents of the camp were branded with when they turned sixteen._

_Alice couldn’t wrap her head around this. Lewis had told her time and time again that when the world fell, they’d need everyone. All of the resources they could get. Due to the ages, some of the residents naturally wouldn’t have been around for it anyway. But for the time being, when they were still building and expanding, working to save for the future, surely it was all hands on deck?_

_Yet here he was, advocating the murder of innocent people. Their friends, their family._

_“The measles outbreak, last year. Amy and Sara?” she named two young girls she remembered being taken to the infirmary and not coming out. She’d been told they’d been taken back into town and would recover with their grandparents on the outside._

_Charlie nodded._

_“Alex? Megan? Jenny?”_

_He nodded at each name and Alice retched again._

_“Ally, comeback to the house. Lets get you some water.”_

_Alice didn’t want to go anywhere with him. She didn’t want to go anywhere with any of these people any more. This wasn’t right._

_But she had no choice._

_…_

_Lewis came to her later that night. She’d shut herself away in her room, not even saying goodnight to Abby or Marnie. Charlie had tried to talk to her some more but she wasn’t having any of it. Marnie had told him to leave her be, that she’d soon understand._

_Alice didn’t think she’d ever understand._

_When Lewis came in, he didn’t look annoyed or disappointment. He just sat on the edge of the bed, the bed they shared a few nights a week, and looked at her._

_“Alice, this will be your job soon. To make the hard decisions, like I’ve had to.”_

_“I don’t want that job” she told him._

_“You don’t have a choice. It’s going to happen. You’re going to lead them all. You’re going to save them all. You’re special.”_

_Suddenly Alice found herself no longer believing this. In fact, she started to wonder how she’d ever let herself believe it. But… She sensed something. That if she argued too much, that things would change. So she listened to him, nodding in the right places as he told her that it was all for the greater good._

_But now, she was questioning everything internally._

_“You will do the next one, Ally. It’s your duty.”_

_She nodded at him, apologising for running out and panicking. She understood now, she told him. It was just a shock. He patted her leg and moved closer towards her on the bed, stroking her arm softly._

_“Lewis. Who did it, in the end? Who shot Thomas?”_

_“Rebecca did it. She’s turning out to be stronger than I initially thought. She wasn’t there before, when I left to come to this time. I don’t know if she ever was meant to be, not like you. You were always meant to be here.”_

_Lewis pressed his lips to hers and she forced herself to respond._

_She didn’t want to be here though. Not anymore._

…

Spencer watched as Alice spoke. During the morning, she’d been animated and responsive. As she was talking about the killings though, her voice went flat and her eyes seem fixed on a spot on the wall. She’d emotionally detached herself from it, the way he’d seen hundreds of people do before.

He couldn’t blame her. She’d spent nearly four and half years in a place, being told she was important to a non existent future. She’d clearly craved family and love and adoration, and was lavished with that for the first four years, being singled out especially. What Spencer couldn’t work out, is why she’d been singled out by Lewis. Sure, she was an attractive girl, but Rebecca Olson had been too. And she’d been older. Reid was sure that someone who had the charismatic capabilities to convince people to live in a retreat in the woods, could have had his pick of girls to choose to take as a partner. Yet for some reason, he chose Alice. Chose to tell her she was going take over from him.

Perhaps it really was what she’d said earlier. That to Lewis this really wasn’t a scam. That he truly believed it.

“Alice, you’re doing so well. And you’ve given us so much information….” Dave began as the door to the interview room opened and Agent Hotchner strode in. She shook herself out of her reverie.

“Alice, we’re going to take another break. It’s approaching early evening and you’ve answered so many questions for us already. There’s not much more we can do here tonight. I’m going to have Dr Reid escort you home again and spend the night. We’ll need you to come back tomorrow and help us some more, okay?”

She nodded and the three stood up and exited the room, Aaron putting his arm out to stop the two Agents, but allowing her past them. She hovered out in the hallway, close enough to hear the hushed tones.

“What do you think, Hotch?” She heard David Rossi ask.

“She’s telling the truth, as far as I can tell. She’s been through a lot and I think it’s taken an awful amount of courage for her to come forward with this. It’s just a shame she didn’t sooner.”

“What now?” Spencer enquired.

“We bring her back tomorrow. There’s still a list of questions we need answering. And we need to find this place somehow, and shut it down. Shut HIM down.”

“Aaron, that may not be that easy. From the way she talks, it sounds like he thinks he’s doing the right thing here. And they clearly have weapons and have all been taught to defend themselves. It’s been five years since Alice was there. We don’t know what’s changed since.” The older profiler commented and Alice sighed, knowing he was right.

“We’ll think of something. Reid, take her home and stay with her. She seems more at ease with you than any of us. We’ll stay here for a while longer, see if we can dig up any more information, maybe find this place by looking at satellite photos. Once we find it, then we’ll worry about how we infiltrate. An Agent has been staying with the Manchesters and he’s been reporting back. Ellen apparently seems hysterical at what she’s found out about her sister, and she only heard half of it.”

“Is it a good idea to insert Ally into that atmosphere then?” Reid asked, noting Aaron’s face change slightly at his use of her nickname.

“It could be good. She may reveal more if her sister starts asking questions. If she gets bothered by it, we can put you both in temporary accommodation for a few night. But I don’t want you leaving her side. She still could run.”

Alice shook her head and moved the few feet back to the door opening.

“Hi…. I can hear you. I won’t run. Promise. But, until you shut them down, I’m not going anywhere without an Agent. An armed one. Dr Reid will do. Can we go now? I can handle my sisters hysteria or whatever. I have done for the past five years.”

Looks were exchanged between all three men.

“We can go. We need to stop by my apartment though, I need a change of clothes.” Spencer told her, nodding farewell to his colleagues and leading Alice out.

Both Rossi and Hotch watched them go before turning to each other.

“This is turning out to be much bigger than we thought, isn’t it?”

Hotch nodded. Much bigger.


	17. Chapter 17

Spencer Reid’s apartment was everything Alice had imagined it to be. Neat and tidy, with everything well organised. Bookshelves completely lined one wall and Alice knew that if she moved a book, he’d be able to tell instantly which one it was. It was cosy though, homely.

“I like it here. ” She announced, standing in the middle of the room.

“Erm, thanks. You have a nice apartment too, Ally.”

“Yeah but it’s not mine. Ellen controls what I do with it. This is yours, it matches your personality. It feels like you.”

Spencer had watched her as she’d walked into his home, her eyes quickly scanning the apartment and clocking the doors and exits. She’d walked over to his books now and was skimming through his collection, running her hands over the spines.

“You read a lot, right?”

Spencer nodded.

“That’s what I missed most when I was at the compound. They had a collection of books there and Charlie would bring me stuff from his trips into town, but it was never enough. I could have happily sat and read all day when I was younger, immersing myself in worlds so much different from this one. Now though… Now I don’t enjoy it as much. At least not fiction. I can’t lose myself anymore.”

“Because of the things you’ve experienced right. I understand it. In this job, you see a lot of things and I used to enjoy being able to lose myself in a fictional universe but now…. Sometimes it doesn’t seem right. So aside from the classics and some series I can’t seem to stay away from, I tend to stick to fact based books too. Essays and such.”

Ally bent down to where he had his series stored and she pulled the last Harry Potter book from the shelf.

“I never even managed to to finish these. And I adored these books.”

“Take it then, by all means. I know the stories off by heart anyway. They’re all stored up here. One of the perks of having an eidetic memory. Being able to remember everything I’ve read.”

“I imagine that also has its downfalls.”

Reid nodded again “It does. But anyway, if you want the books, take them.”

“I can’t. Maybe when this is all over I’ll buy them and read them from the start.”

“Alright. Well, give me about thirty minutes. I want a quick shower and I need to get some a change of clothes and some things.”

…

The rest of the evening was intense and awkward. Spencer and Alice returned back to the Manchester’s home to find that Ellen had prepared a meal for the four of them, much to Alice’s dismay. She’d hoped to be able to slope straight off to her apartment as it was approaching 8pm by the time they’d returned, but her sister wasn’t having any of it.

Alice knew it was because Ellen wanted her questions answering but she couldn’t. She just… didn’t want to talk about it with anyone who she didn’t have to. Every time Ellen started to ask, Alice would just tell her “No”.

“Alice, stop being awkward. We have a right to know.” Ellen finally burst out, scowling at her younger sibling.

“You really don’t. You don’t have a right to know anything that happened because it didn’t happen to you, it happened to me.”

“I have every right to know. You were placed into my care when you were younger, and you’ve been living in my house since you returned. I deserve to know what sort of fucked up business you were involved in.”

Alice shook her head and mirrored her sisters scowl. “I was placed into your care alright. And look what happened, I ran away because the care was so great. Trust me Ellie, if I’d have had any other choice when I came back, then I wouldn’t have been here. Why don’t you ask what you really want to know, I can almost hear the question slipping from your mouth anyway. So ask it. Stop pussy footing around it.”

The girl was almost spitting with anger and Spencer couldn’t believe how different and yet similar the two sisters were.

Alice had stood up now, her knife and fork clattering to the plate. Across the table, Ellen copied her, the girls standing off against each other.

“Ellie sit down.” Robert tugged on his wife’s arm but she shook him off.

“No. She’s right, I wanna know. We didn’t get to hear what was said this afternoon, so I don’t know what other revelations we’ve missed, but I need to know this now. You were with them for nearly five years. They killed people. Did you?!?”

Robert sucked in his breath, averting his eyes from his wife and to Alice.

“You don’t have to answer that Alice. It doesn’t make a difference. We love you either way, you don’t have to answer.”

Spencer looked up at the young girl, her shoulders heaving as she tried to control her breathing. Her face was flushed and her fists were clenched at her sides. She was almost shaking. Alice looked between her brother in law and her sister, trying to breathe deeply, to get a hold of herself as she tried to answer the one question she’d been terrified of being asked but knew that she inevitably would be.

“Robert, be quiet. For once, take my side here. I want to know. Did. You. Kill. Anyone?”

“I DON’T KNOW ALRIGHT! I DON’T KNOW.”

Alice kicked her chair back and bolted from the room as Ellen burst into frustrated tears. Robert looked up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the house, to Alice storming through it.

“Guest bedroom. Top of the stairs and turn right. It’s opposite the bathroom. You might not see her at first, she’ll be behind the closet door.”

Spencer thanked Robert and then quickly followed his instructions, taking the the stairs two at a time and finding the door to the guest room. Robert was right, he couldn’t see her.

But he could hear breathing. The closet door was open and folded back on itself, moonlight streaming in through the open drapes, the only light in the room.

“Ally, I’m going to come in and close the door. I won’t turn the light on.” He did as he said and shut the door behind him quietly, letting his eyes adjust to the dimly lit room.

“I’m walking across the room to the closet door okay.” He padded quietly, passing the bed and then sinking to his knees when he reached the door. He didn’t pull it back entirely, but instead slotted himself in next to her, seeing Alice with her knees drawn up against her face and her head resting on them. Her breathing was ragged and he could hear her beginning to choke on the air.

“Ally… Ally, look at me. Please, raise your head and look at me” he soothed, twisting his body so he was facing her in the small space.

She raised her head, her cheeks still flushed and her hair tangled over her face. She shove it back quickly, and Spencer saw the tears glistening on her face. She was beginning to hyperventilate.

“Look at me Ally, breathe slowly. In and out. Focus on my eyes and copy me. In and out… In… and out… ”

Alice locked eyes with Reid and he tried to ignore the terror in them, the sheer uncertainty.

“In….. and out, Alice. Come on. You can do this.”

She slowly started to mirror his breathing, her green eyes fixed upon his. After a good three minutes or so and Spencer was starting to feel light headed himself from breathing so deeply, but she appeared to have gotten it under control. Her cheeks were paling slightly, returning back to their normal colour and she sat upright, resting her back and head against the wall.

“Sorry ” she rasped out, her voice slightly hoarse.

“It’s okay. You’ve relived a lot a memories over the past two days. You’re doing some incredible well though Alice, you need to know that. So well.”

She closed her eyes and sat there in silence, not responding but gathering her thoughts and senses back together. Spencer let her, readjusting himself next to her but being very careful not to touch her, he didn’t want to startle her. It was a lot to go through and he felt terrible for her that she’d kept all of this locked away for so long. He felt even worse knowing that they were going to have to dig deeper to proceed with this case.

“I don’t know if I killed anyone. How can I not know?”

“You don’t have to talk about it now” he told her, his voice low and calm again.

“I do. I have to.”


	18. Chapter 18

_Things had changed. Not dramatically so but since the night Ally had run from the hidden hut at the bottom of the herb garden, things had been different for Alice, at least in her head._

_Not that she let on to anyone though. She still went to weapon training, still went about her daily chores and still let Lewis tell her that she was important, that she was going to be a leader. But she didn’t believe it anymore. She quickly learnt to hide that though, it wouldn’t do well to slip out of favour with him or the other elders. Despite her perceived mishap that night, Lewis still seemed to worship the ground she walked on, showering her with praise and visiting her bedroom at night. And she let him, all the while thinking and wondering of what would happen if she or Abby were to fall ill._

_Abby was older now, and spending more and more time away from Alice, which she didn’t mind so much. What she did mind was how much time she was spending with Rebecca, Lewis and Marnie when Ally wasn’t in the house. Initially it hadn’t bothered her. She and Abby had never had a strong relationship, and Alice had been grateful that she could easily palm her off. But now, all she could think was that Abby was being brainwashed too, the same way she’d been. But there was very little she could do about it. Abby adored Lewis and Marnie, and Rebecca was a firm favourite. All three seemed able to give her what Ally was unable to; unconditional love and attention. Alice wasn’t able to, she’d never been able to connect with her, and she’d tired of her easily._

_Which complicated things immensely for Alice. She’d been working on a way out of her situation, carefully calculating things and making plans. When Charlie and Eric, or some of the other elders went out into the woods, she’d always ask to accompany them. She wasn’t allowed into any of the towns, Lewis wouldn’t permit that, but she was allowed out on wood runs, and to help patrol the walls and fences, to help fix and mend any weaknesses providing she was accompanied._

_She was mentally filing away the lay of land immediately outside of the compound, keeping note of any areas of the wall that she could possibly scale or slip through. She spent time in Lewis’s office, memorising the rota that was set up for the night shift security and she wheedled information out of Charlie over many months, about how far away from the nearest town they were. Not that far as the crow flew it turned out, it just took longer by car or truck because of the terrain. He estimated about twenty miles._

_Lewis had maps in his office, of the compound and the surrounding area in the park and over a number of weeks, Alice would sneak in, copying the map meticulously piece by piece folding up the four pages she had numbered carefully and keeping it stuffed inside of her sock at all time during the day and hiding it under a loose floorboard in her room at night. Under her bed and pressed against the wall was a backpack, hidden by stacks of books she’d been slowly pilfering from the school room. The back pack contained a stack of Polaroids she’d taken during her first few years, when she happy and ignorant, the camera belonging to Marnie. It also contained three bottles of water, crackers and nuts, and importantly a flash light and compass that she’d stolen._

_She had a plan. One that was complicated by Abby, something she still didn’t know how to deal with. She’d figure it out though, when the time came._

_The time came just over a year after the incident in the hut. Lewis had been telling her for months that the next one was up to her, she had to learn sooner or later. Alice just nodded and smiled at him, thinking that she’d be out of there before that time came. She was planning on leaving during the next full moon, thinking that the light from the sky would help guide her and save her battery usage on the torch._

_Before the full moon came though, Alice was called for again, this time by Eric. At this point she’d been at the compound for four years and five months, celebrating her twentieth birthday only two months before._

_“Alice, I need you to come with me. Duty calls.” he poked his head into Abby’s room, she slept in the main house rather than the dormitories that housed the other children. Of course she did, she was special. Her room was between Lewis’s and Alice’s. Alice was tucking her into bed when Eric interrupted them._

_“What? No one told me.” Ally met Eric’s gaze, scowling at him._

_“A decision was made at the meeting this evening. You weren’t there, but it’s time. I need you to come with me.”_

_Alice hadn’t even known there was a meeting tonight, it wasn’t part of the routine. She looked over to Abby who was snuggling into her comforter._

_“Eric can’t it wait? I’m busy.”_

_Marnie strode around his body, pushing into the room and sitting on the end of the small bed. She patted Alice’s hand._

_“You go, sweet pea. I’ll finish here. And remember, you’re strong. This will be your job.”_

_Ally blinked a few times, accepting that there was no way out of this and very slowly following Eric out of the house and down past the herb garden._

_When they entered the hut, there was only Lewis and Oliver there. And a body on the floor, tied up with a sack over the head. It was barely breathing but whoever it was, was still alive. Just. Alice tried to mentally run through the list of residents who’d been missing over the past weeks, months even. There were only two that had been taken to the infirmary who hadn’t returned yet. Katie and Michael. Katie was a 16 year old girl, she’d come to the compound with her parents when she was six. And Michael had joined after Alice and Rebecca had. Neither had been seen for a while. Alice studied the body, it was clearly female, gaunt arms with open sores covering them, and sallow skin. But she could make out the curve of breasts and hips underneath the clothing._

_“Katie… ” she whispered, her breath shaking._

_“We thought this would be easier if you couldn’t see her. She’s beyond our help, Oliver had diagnosed her a while ago as being HIV positive, but now it’s progressed. She must have come to us that way. Her parents have already been reprimanded for inflicting such a sickly human upon this group, God only knows what could have happened if she’d infected one of us.”_

_Hearing the disdain and disgust in Lewis’s voice made Alice feel sick._

_Oliver spoke “Her symptoms started to a few years ago, but we didn’t know what it was. And then we had complaints from a blood buyer….” he trailed off as Lewis shot him a look._

_Blood buyer?_

_“Her time has come Alice, she’s barely alive as it is. Pneumonia has infected her body, her immune system obliterated by the HIV. Her time is here and so is yours.” Lewis held out the same gun that he’d presented to her over a year ago and she gingerly took it._

_Katie’s body began to tremble on the floor, jerking slightly._

_“Think of it as putting her out of her misery. She’s in pain, a lot of discomfort. Even conventional medicine wouldn’t be able to treat her now, she’s too far gone. If you don’t do this, she’ll continue to suffer.”_

_Alice gulped, looking at the girl who she used to groom the horses with, the girl who was so quiet and shy and would turn red if anyone complimented her. She WAS suffering. And Lewis and Oliver had made sure to leave it long enough so that she wouldn’t survive either way, knowing that the guilt of Katie’s suffering would force Alice’s hand._

_Tears leaking down her face, she held out the gun, her finger over the trigger._

_Her arm started to shake, barely holding it straight as she squinted trying to make sure she would get a head shot, the quickest and most painless way out for poor Katie._

_“I…. I can’t…. ” she whispered, her words quivering._

_“Yes Alice, you can.” Lewis was calm and commanding, moving to stand next to her._

_“No… Look…. I can’t.” she could barely grip the gun she was shaking that much. Lewis stepped closer and placed his hand over hers, steadying her; his finger covering hers on the trigger._

_“Ally, you’re a leader. This will be your job. You will lead and you will make these decisions. It’s the only way the group will survive.”_

_Alice had stopped believing this months ago, there were too many contradictions and there was no way any of it could be real. She’d been sucked in, sucked into to a group full of people who had accepted this man’s delusions as she once had. And now she being used to kill someone._

_“On three Alice.”_

_She closed her eyes._

_“One.”_

_She took a deep breath, her eyes screwed shut, feeling his finger forcing hers backwards._

_“Two”_

_He squeezed her hand, drawing her finger all the way back, the gun firing once as a sob burst through Alice’s chest._

_“Three. ”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a big ask but if you’re enjoying my content and you’re financially able to then you may consider buying me a Ko-Fi as a way of financially supporting my writing. Many thanks to you if you do, it means so much to me that anyone might enjoy my work enough to dontate to me
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/cherrywhisp


	19. Chapter 19

Alice finally stopped talking, her eyes leaving the spot on the back of the closet door where they’d been fixated for the last forty five minutes as she recounted her story to Spencer.

As soon she’d started talking, Spencer had slipped his cell from his pocket setting it on the floor between them and switching on the vice recorder app. He knew this technically wasn’t official as they weren’t in the interview room, but he didn’t want her to have to go through this story again. Her voice had started out shaky as she’d began but eventually it had levelled out into a completely flat tone with almost no emotion what so ever. He had questions that he needed answers to, things she’d mentioned that hadn’t been bought up earlier today. But first…

“Ally, you won’t be convicted if that’s what you’re worried about. You’re a witness here and you will be protected at all costs. I doubt very much that there’d even be any evidence that could lead to a trial for this particular murder.”

She whipped her face around to his, her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not worried about being fucking convicted. I’m worried because…. Because I could have killed someone. And how many people have I let get killed because I’ve only just spoken up. I’ve been out of that place for five years. How many more have they killed eh? When I could have done something about it.”

“But you had reasons not to. And I understand that, everyone would understand that. The important thing is that you got out when you did and that you have come forward and told the FBI about all of this. The BAU will do something about this, Lewis will be stopped one way or another.” Spencer stretched his legs out, shutting the voice recorder off.

“Are you ready to go back downstairs, or to at least go back to your apartment?” he needed to stand up but he didn’t really want to leave her alone. And it was getting very late right now. Alice nodded and pushed the closet door with the back of her hand, letting it close as she rose to her feet awkwardly. Spencer followed suit and the two headed back stairs.

Ellen and Robert were in the kitchen where Alice had to go through to get to her apartment, unless she went outside of the house and around through the back entrance. Her sisters eyes were red rimmed and her cheeks blotchy. She looked up at Ally as they entered, Ellen standing and walking over to her.

“I’m…. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything you went through and I’m sorry that I didn’t do a good enough job of being there for you and giving you a home that you wanted to stay in. I just…. I couldn’t be Mom, I didn’t want to me. The responsibility was too much. But I need you to know that despite our differences, you’re my baby sister. Whatever you did or didn’t do, you had your reasons and I know that you’ll have done it to survive. I wasn’t there for you then, but I’m here now. So is Robert. I’m sorry.”

Alice had rarely heard such emotion in her sisters voice, Ellen hardly ever apologised for anything. Robert had a sad smile on his face, pleased that his wife was apologising and trying to make things right, but sad that she even had to. Alice surprised herself and her sister by lunging forward and wrapping her arms around Ellen’s neck, her sister quickly enveloping her waist with her own limbs. They held each other for a moment before breaking apart without words, just a look of understanding passing between them.

“I’m going to my room. I’m tired and I need a drink, I think. Ellie, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. For everything. Goodnight sissie” she used her very very old nickname for her elder sister, earning a soft smile from the older woman. “Goodnight Robert.”

“Night Ally, Goodnight Dr Reid.”

…

Back at headquarters early the next morning and Aaron Hotchner and the other Agents were making a list of questions they needed to ask the girl today. Spencer had sent the voice recording across to the team last night, the two having yet to arrive.

“Blood buyers?” Derek called out and Penelope jotted it down on a notepad. Aaron nodded.

“She mentions someone called Abby, she’s not talked about her before but she sounds important.” JJ commented, Penelope scribbling the name down.

“I still can’t work out why the bodies were dumped in the surrounding counties. If they were so secretive then why not bury them on site or at least hide them. Yet they were left in relatively clear view.” Rossi contributed to the list.

“When they arrive, Dave and Spencer will take the leads on questioning again. Penelope have you come any closer to finding out who Lewis is?”

The blonde shook her head. “No sir, I’ve pulled up a list of all the children that were reported missing and that would have been around his age when he was found, and I’ve used facial recognition software using the few photos we have from Alice of him as an adult. Even with the advanced technologies we have now, it’s not bringing up anything that’s even close to a match.”

“Keep trying” Hotch nodded at her, turning to Derek and Agent Jareau. “I need you two working the maps. I know they’re normally Reid’s forte but she mentioned that the camp is around twenty miles away from the county she was found in. We know where that is at least. And she managed to get from the compound in two days of walking, or at least so she says. Pull up any aerial photography we have of that area. We need a location on this place, we need to start planning how we’re going to get in, and how we’re going to take it down with minimal losses to life. They have weapons and having been planning for an attack of some kind for years. Do NOT contact any of the park rangers. Garcia has pulled their financial records, and their bank accounts are indeed highly inflated in comparison to their wages. Cash deposits every few months. We will crack this one, we have to.” 


	20. Chapter 20

Spencer had spent another night on the pull out couch in Alice’s apartment, the pair having gone upstairs immediately after her and Ellen had seemingly made amends. Alice had walked straight into her kitchenette, pulling out a bottle of vodka and taking a hit directly from the bottle, before pouring some into a glass and adding coke. She offered the drink to Spencer and he shook his head.

“Could I just have the coke by itself?” he definitely shouldn’t be drinking whilst he was meant to be watching over her. She poured him a tall glass of coke, adding ice cubes before passing it to him. She took another long pull of her drink and set it down on the counter.

“Would you believe that I’d never been drunk before until I was 24 years old.”

“Really?” Reid was surprised, but then almost as soon as the words left his mouth he realised why she probably hadn’t been drunk.

“Yup. Alcohol was deemed unnecessary. We had wine at matching ceremonies and things but it was rationed out. When I came back, I didn’t dare take anything that would impair my senses or reactions at first. It was only last year, when Ellen and Robert threw a dinner party for his work colleagues that I experienced the feeling of being inebriated. One of his associates kept refilling my glass and I passed out in the down stairs bathroom after vomiting in the sink. Ellen yelled at me for an hour the next day, like I was a kid.”

“I’ve never really drank much either. I was too young to get into bars when I was in college so I’ve never really had that whole experience.”

She downers the rest of her drink and then yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I’m going to shower and then turn in. Make yourself at home.”

She went into the bathroom and Spencer set about pulling out the couch again, straightening the covers and slipping his shoes, jacket and tie off. He was tired as well but he’d wait for her to get into her bed before he settled in. He placed his gun on the floor at the side of the pull out, wondering if he’d wake up to find it by her bed again.

When she came out, she was dressed in pajamas this time and she came and hovered by the couch.

“Spencer…..I just wanted to say thank you. For believing me.”

She turned away and walked between her bookcases to her sleeping area, flicking off the lamps that were on in there after she’d climbed in between the sheets. Reid got himself ready for bed and switched off the remaining lights before settling down. The pair were asleep almost instantly.

At around 3am Spencer woke up with a start, to see a shape standing by his mattress. He froze, trying to figure out if he could reach down for his gun undetected, but then he realised it wasn’t an intruder. It was Ally.

“Alice?” Spencer whispered softly, carefully pulling back his covers and setting his feet onto the floor; pulling himself into a seating position.

Alice didn’t move or respond. Spencer stood up and lowered his face to hers trying to see her eyes in the dark. They were wide and glassy and her breathing was heavy.

“Ally… ”

Nothing.

She was sleepwalking, she had to be. Spencer touched her shoulders gently, turning her around and lightly pushing her in the direction of her bed.

“Let’s get you back to bed, Alice.”

He walked behind her, his hand on her lower back until he reached her bed. And that’s when he smelt it.

Ammonia. He touched the bed sheets lightly, grimacing when he felt the damp patch roughly where her bottom would have lain. Wiping his hand on his own shirt, Spencer pondered his predicament. Hmmmm, what to do?

As he straightened back up he noticed that she was only wearing a long t-shirt again. The pajama bottoms she’d been wearing to bed had been discarded onto the floor and as he bent over to feel them, he noticed they were damp too. Alright, so at least he didn’t have to worry about trying to wake her up to get her to change, she’d taken them off herself. He grabbed her pillows and led her back to the couch.

“Bedtime again Ally. Time to get in.”

She climbed into the bed without question and curled up into a ball, her eyes closing as soon as her head hit the pillow. Carefully, Spencer placed her pillows at her back, creating a makeshift barrier between them before he climbed back in next to her. This had the potential to be extremely awkward the next morning, but he’d worry about that then.

It didn’t take a genius to work things out. The majority of adult bed wetting happened when the person was either so hammered that they couldn’t control their bodily functions, or if that person was highly stressed out and anxious. Add that to the sleepwalking and it was obvious that the last few days were taking their toll on the girl. Sometimes her exterior would seem so calm and collected and other times she seemed to crack immediately, her yelling at her sister and running off being an example.

He needed her to be strong though.

They all did.

…

When Alice woke up the next day she was confused. She wasn’t in bed and she wasn’t wearing bottoms. Instead she was lying on the couch, a mountain of pillows between her and Dr Reid. It was still early but she felt like she’d slept for a year so she crawled out of the bed gingerly and padded across to her bed. She smelt it straight away, urine drying in the air.

Crap..

She felt embarrassed and ashamed, her face colouring as she realised what had happened. When she’d first returned, she wet the bed often. She knew it was a sign of anxiety and stress and she eventually managed to get it under control but it had been a horrific few months of flipping her mattress on an almost daily basis and trying to hide her soiled sheets from her sister and Robert. Eventually they found out, the stench became too strong and Ellen investigated, finding the stained mattress. It was then that Alice was told she’d been sleepwalking as well, turning up in Robert and Ellen’s bed room in the middle of the night. She had no recollection of that at all. They bought her a new mattress and she went to a few therapy sessions, refusing to talk about what was causing the stress but accepting the help in learning the breathing techniques to try to manage it. She’d been dry for over three years now, the way she thought an adult should be. And now she’d wet herself with an FBI agent in the room. He knew, he had to. Otherwise she’d have been put back into her own bed.

She stripped the bed quietly, pulling on the now dry bottoms to complete the task. She’d shower and toss them in the wash once she was done. She filled a bowl with warm water and bleach, sponging the mattress down lightly and leaving the bed unmade, she’d have to remake it later, once the mattress was dry. She piled the sheets by her door and sloped off into the shower, coming out twenty minutes later and adding her pajamas to the pile. She dressed herself again, ready for the day and when she left her sleeping area fully clothed Alice could see that Spencer was awake.

He eyed her carefully, his gaze flicking to the bare bed and back.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I’m okay. Erm. Listen, I’m kinda embar… ”

“Don’t be please” Spencer cut her off. “It’s perfectly natural in times of high stress. Sometimes our bodies are overwhelmed and we can’t control them the way we could normally. You did give me quite a fright when I woke up and you were standing next to the couch though.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything, I don’t even remember dreaming.”

“That’s common too in sleep walking.”

“I know. I read about it when Ellie told me I was doing it. I don’t think I do it often, but then again I don’t remember.”

Spencer and Ally were silent for a moment, before Spencer climbed off the pull out and went to get himself ready for the day.

…

“Alice, we’ve listened to the recording from last night. No matter what happens, you will NOT be prosecuted for the murder of Katie, I want to make that much clear. But we still have a number of questions for you today. Starting with what happened after Katie died. Can you tell us?”

Alice, Reid and Rossi were back in the interview room. Ellen and Robert Manchester had accompanied them in again and were the other side of the mirror, listening with Agent Hotchner.

Alice nodded. “They made me… They made me cut her tattoo away. That’s how I knew they did that. Lewis said it was important, so that she couldn’t be traced back to the compound.”

Alice closed her eyes momentarily and when she opened them again Reid saw that they were full of tears. There was something else there too though, another emotion and when she spoke again, Reid recognised it as burning anger.

“They made me kneel next to the body of a girl I’d lived with for four years, and take a knife to her neck and slice off her skin. The person I thought loved me, MADE do me that. And I did it. I know what type of person that makes them but what does it make me? I complied.”

Rossi beat Spencer to it “It makes you someone that was doing whatever they could to survive.”

Alice just shook her head.

“What happened next, what did they do with them body?”

“I don’t know. Eric was told to take me back to the house after that. I could barely walk, I was shaking that much. Marnie had to wash me, put me in the tub and wash the blood of my hands, I couldn’t do it. I asked her though….. She said she didn’t know what they’d do with Katie because her family were here. All the others though, were taken and left. Lewis had this thing, he said that they couldn’t be buried near us because they were no longer our family, but he left them so that they could be reunited with their own. It never made any sense to me considering how hard he worked to keep the compound a secret, surely dumping bodies in the surrounding area was bound to draw attention to the National Park?”

Dr Reid and Agent Rossi shared a look. So that was why the bodies weren’t hidden. In some odd way, Lewis thought that he was the right thing by allowing the corpses to be found so that their families could claim them and bury them. And Alice was right, it had attracted attention to the National Park, just not enough attention for the FBI to launch a full on investigation previously.

“What happened after that Alice?”

“I ran. That’s the night I left.”


	21. Chapter 21

_When Alice had been washed and dried by Marnie, she’d retreated into her bedroom dressing in her pajamas and sitting on her bed holding her head in her hands. She couldn’t take this anymore, she couldn’t accept what she was going to be expected to do on a regular basis, and she no longer accepted the stories and so called prophecies of the future that she and everyone else were being fed. She hadn’t for a while now._

_Ally crept out of her room and into Abby’s, surprised to see Lewis sitting on the side of the bed, stroking the girls hair as she slept. Hearing Alice enter the room, he turned._

“ _You did well tonight, Ally. The first time for anyone is hard. But you did it, I’m proud of you. You’re accepting your responsibilities like the true leader you are.”_

_Alice wanted to vomit but she gulped it back and steadied herself, she needed to act normal here._

“ _I’m not going to lie, it was hard. But I’m sure it will get easier. And you’re right. If I’m to lead then I have to be able to do this.”_

“ _Good girl” he looked down at Abby, her eyes closed and soft snores coming from her lips. “This one’s got a lot coming to her as well. But she’ll do grand, she’ll save everyone when it comes down to it.”_

_Alice knew then that she couldn’t take Abby with her. She might be able to slip away undetected and make it back without them finding her. And if she was lucky, they might not come looking. But not if she took Abby._

_She wouldn’t even know what to do with her anyway, not out there in the real world. Half the time she felt no connection to the girl whatsoever and the other half, she felt confused by what she was meant to feel and what she actually did._

_What she was at least certain of, was that Lewis wouldn’t hurt Abby. She was too precious to him. Alice would leave and if she survived she’d find a way back for her._

“ _Lewis, I’m going to bed. I feel overwhelmingly tired.”_

“ _Oh. Alright. I thought we’d perhaps visit for a while.”_

_He’d made her kill someone and now he wanted to have sex with her. Alice could feel the bile rising._

“ _I’m sorry. I feel like I need to be alone tonight.”_

“ _How about if we visited in my room and then you can go back to yours to sleep. You can even be excused from morning chores tomorrow and you can sleep in. You deserve it after today.”_

_He rose from the bed and strode over to her. If she resisted too much, he’d know she was hiding something. So she allowed him to take her back to his bedroom and undress her, she allowed him to use her body to see to his needs, and she used to everything she’d learnt to make sure it was over as quickly as she could, gasping and moaning her way through it in a performance that should have won her awards. When it was over, he slumped down and pulled the condom off, handing it to her to dispose off in the bin on her way out of the room._

_When she got back to her own bed, she lay down, biding her time until midnight when the security watch changed over. Charlie was on watch tonight, consigned to the area of the wall she was going to use to escape. It had to be tonight, at midnight when they were changing._

_So she waited, dressing warmly and collecting the rucksack from under the bed. She slid out of her window, carefully and quietly making her way through the shadows to the area of the wall she needed to be at, her heart pounding. After a momentary hitch in her plans, she was on her way. Over the wall and onto the other side, checking to make sure she was going in the direction she’d worked out she needed to be going in from her carefully copied map._

_She ran, only stopping to check the compus and to listen to hear if anyone was following her. They weren’t as far as she could tell, the only noises she could hear were of her own breathing, and owls hooting in the distance. She kept her torch low, using the position of the moon in the sky to help guide her, remembering techniques she’d read about. She was terrified but the adrenaline was keeping her going through the thick trees and the cool dark night._

_When day started to break she stopped, searching for somewhere to hide. She’d already decided that when she did this, she’d travel at night and only at night. With the imposed curfew, if they came looking for her it would be during the day. Alice had been following the path of a river and she veered away slightly, finding some rocks that gave way to a small opening. Shining her torch inside, she listened for animals and bats, not hearing any. She decided it would do, so she forced herself in, surprised that a few feet in, it gave way to a larger cave. Sitting down on the cool ground she settled in for the day, switching her torch off and watching daylight start to pour through the opening._

_That day in the cave was possibly the worst day of her life. She tried to sleep, convinced she was well enough hidden from them and that as she’d had head start she’d be okay. The way she’d come was more or less impassable by vehicle which is why it normally took so long to get in and out of town by car, because they were limited to certain paths. She estimated that it would he at least 8am before they realised she was gone, unless…. unless the problem she’d encountered last night as she was leave had become more of an issue than she’d thought._

_Sleep came in snatches, Alice huddled on the floor with her hood up and her hands tucked inside her sleeves. It wasn’t particularly cold outside but the cave was cool and she struggled to remain warm but she didn’t dare try to build a fire. When dusk finally fell again, she waited until eleven pm, wanting to make sure that any search party that may have been looking for her given up for the day. She passed the time eating, munching quietly on the food she’d packed and draining one of the water bottles before studying her hand drawn map. When it was time, she set off again, precariously peering out of the cave and then settling into another jog once she was sure of the direction. She fell as few times, the terrain was steeper now, going down hill and her hands were ripped to shreds from grabbing branches and bushes. But she pushed on, making progress and this time when the sun started to rise, she didn’t stop. She could hear the faint sounds of a road, civilisation._

_Alice huffed and puffed through the last mile, leaving the woods and coming out onto a main road, she had no idea what town or county this was but she turned right and began walking, coming across a diner with a pay phone an hour later._

_Taking a deep breath, she called collect, praying her sister hadn’t moved from their childhood home and praying that she was home, otherwise Alice would have to think of something else and she wasn’t sure she could at that moment, her tired and sleep deprived brain was in overload and ready to shut down. The stars seem to be aligned in her favour and Ellen answered, shocked and astounded when she realised who was on the end of the line. Four hours later and Alice was in the back of her sisters car and on her way home._

_Home._

_Could she even call it that anymore?_

_Would she ever call anywhere home again after what she’d experienced?_

_And what would she do now, what would happen?_

 


	22. Chapter 22

“So that’s how I got away. I ran. I left Becca behind, I left everything I’d known for nearly five years behind and I ran. And instead of doing anything about the things I’d learnt there and helping the people who were still under his spell and doing his bidding, I hid. Because I’m a coward.”

Spencer stood from his seat across the table from Alice and moved to her side, kneeling on the floor next to her.

“You are NOT a coward, Ally. It may have taken you five years but you did come forward. So many people in your position wouldn’t have.”

Alice shook her head and took a deep breath. “I am a coward, or at least I was. I’ve lived with this for five years and it’s still affecting me in ways I’m not even realising half the time. Sleep walking, the other thing from last night, panic attacks. Not anymore though. I want Lewis and Marnie to pay for the things they’ve done. They need to be held responsible for brainwashing all those people and then killing and disposing of the ones who didn’t fit their plans.”

Ally pushed her chair back and stood up, shaking slightly as she spoke again. “They need to pay. I don’t know how and I don’t know when but they have too. And I need to be there when they do, I need to help make that happen.”

Rossi leaned back in his chair, appraising the girl with his eyes. She switched so quickly between fragile and vulnerable, and strong and brave. This girl; this woman, needed closure. Closure that the BAU could help get for her. They just needed to figure out how. Rossi cleared his throat.

“Alice, we will do whatever we can to bring you in on this when we take them down, however we choose to do it. You have my word.”

Alice locked eyes with Dave, her voice strong and clear “I need to tell him how much I hate him.”

Rossi nodded at her and motioned for her to sit back down again, placing his notepad in front of Spencer and tapping at the list of questions Aaron had told them to get answered.

“Ally, we need to ask you some more questions okay?” Spencer didn’t wait for her to respond “You mentioned that you are regularly had to give blood and you also mentioned blood buyers. What are they?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure about this myself, it was only a throwaway comment I heard. But once I started to think about it I realised that the blood we were giving wouldn’t last until Lewis’s predicted ‘falling of the world’, even if they had state of the art refrigeration facilities. So I looked into it and there are plenty of clinics who will pay for donated blood, we all know that; it’s how a lot of college students pay for their drinks. I think, and I’ve no proof here; but I think our blood was being sold to one of these clinics for a discounted price. Or maybe they were trading it for medical supplies, I don’t know. But they had to have been getting money from somewhere other than the poppies because they weren’t in flower the whole year around.”

All of the adults at the compound had known what the poppies were for, but it was rarely actually discussed.

“Charlie also told me…. When he was a lot younger, he remembers a lot of the woman being pregnant, but that there wasn’t that many babies. He didn’t know for sure either but…. ”

“Maybe they were selling the babies. There’s a huge market for that even now, it’s horrific.” Rossi commented, making notes quickly. She was probably right about both the blood and the babies, there were some clinics that would break plenty of laws to get their supplies cheaply. They thought they were doing the right thing by cutting costs so they could help more people when in actual fact they were endangering so many more lives.

The next point on the list regarding the body dumping and why they weren’t buried or hidden had already been answered so Spencer moved onto the next one.

“Alice, who’s Abby? You’ve mentioned her a few times but never said who she is.”

If Dr Reid detected the flicker on her face he didn’t let on. She thought she’d been so careful to leave her out of this, they couldn’t know about Abby, they’d say it was clouding her judgement. When it really wasn’t.

“Abby was Becca and Eric’s daughter, but Becca didn’t bond with her that well so I ended up spending a lot of time with her. She was two when I left, if she’s still there she’d be seven.”

The lie rolled off her tongue so easily even she couldn’t believe it. The two Agents seemed satisfied with her answer and Dr Reid moved on to the next point, something that wasn’t written down.

“You said you copied a map to help find your way through the woods. Do you still have it?”

“No. I burnt it within days of being back. I didn’t want my sister or Robert using it to find the place, and I didn’t want to be able to find my own way back. If I’d have kept the map, I was scared I’d have tried to go back to save the kids that were there. And I couldn’t go back, not then.”

That map would have made all the difference to the BAU being able to find the compound easily and Spencer couldn’t help but be disappointed. Just as he was opening his mouth to speak again, the door to the interview room opened and Agent Hotchner strode in, Morgan following him.

“Derek and JJ think they’ve found it. And Garcia has found the website. Alice, I need you to go and look at some aerial photos and maps with Agent Morgan please.”

She stood up again and followed Derek out of the room, Hotch lingering behind with Dr Reid and Agent Rossi.

“Spencer, you do know what’s going to happen don’t you, if they’ve found it? We can’t just storm the compound, not with that many people and weapons there. We’ll need to get someone on the inside first.”

Spencer had been pushing the thought to the back of his mind all morning, the same thought occurring to him yesterday. Hearing his supervisor voicing it though, made it horrifyingly real.

“Would they even accept her back? She ran away from them.”

“If Lewis was as obsessed with her and the idea of her being the leader of the future as he sounds, then yes, I think they will. And she wants payback, she may seem like she’ll break at times but you can hear the resolve in her voice. If we can work out how to do this, I think she’ll easily consent to going back and going undercover. But she won’t be able to go alone. That’s the only thing….”

Rossi continued where Aaron had left off “She’ll need an Agent to go with her, someone to act as her new husband perhaps, who’s somehow helped her realise that Lewis’s way of life was the correct way, and convinced her to go back. Kid, you’ve come through for us in a similar situation before, albeit you were already on the inside.”

Reid looked between the two older Agents, realising what they were asking and knowing that it couldn’t be anyone else on the team. He had the rapport with Alice, she seemed to trust him and she was the one who’d sought him out it in the first place.

“If we can figure out the details, are you up for this Dr Reid?”

Spencer nodded.

 


	23. Chapter 23

When Aaron, Spencer and Dave rejoined the rest of the group they were met with the news that Derek and JJ had indeed located the compound.

They’d scanned aerial photos of the area of the park surrounding the county where Alice had called her sister from and worked from there, coming across a cluster of trees that looked different to the rest, set further part from each other and spotting a small line that when they zoomed in as much as they could, looked to be a wall. When Garcia had pulled up different images of the area, they’d seen what was clearly a brick building, although you wouldn’t have known it if you weren’t looking for it as there appeared to be some sort of garden set atop it.

When Alice had been shown the images, she’d exclaimed that it had to be there, they used to have vegetable and flower gardens on top of the buildings, the greenery and shrubs helping the huts to blend in.

As much of a break through as this was, Aaron was concerned. The building were extremely well hidden and although the trees were set slightly further apart that the rest of the forest, they were still close enough to cause a problem and to block the team from getting any area intel if they were to send Spencer and Alice back in. He’d have to think on this extremely hard and work out the best plan of action to get close enough to the compound to still have some sort of visibility of whoever they sent in and to intervene at a moments notice, but to be far enough away so as not to arouse any suspicious.

This wasn’t going to be easy and he needed his best thinkers on hand to help him. He signalled for Agent Anderson to join the team, asking him quietly to take Alice for lunch so that the team could talk. Her ears pricked up immediately, sensing they wanted her out of the way to discuss a plan.

“No. I’m not going anywhere. I want to… I NEED to be apart of this.” she crossed her arms in front of her body stubbornly, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

“You will be a part of this, Alice. But we need to figure out the exact details, figure out how we can get inside to scan the property and to infiltrate. However we do this, we need to be careful due to the sheer amount of people that reside there.”

“And who best to help you with that? Surely the person that lived there and experienced it for nearly five years” she told Aaron, sounding exasperated. “I can draw you a layout of the compound as it was when I left it, I can tell you where they kept the weapons, where they kept the cars. I can write you a list of all the people who were living there when I was, give you the names and ages of the all the children that were there. You need me here for this, for your planning.”

“Hotch, she’s right. We need to involve her, especially if you’re thinking of doing what you talked about earlier. You can’t think about sending her in without involving her in this.” Rossi addressed his fellow Agent, Aaron nodding at him, accepting that he was right and hearing a loud gasp from Alice as she took in Rossi’s words.

“You want to…. you want to send… send me back?”

“Only if we can do so safely. We think that because Lewis was that obsessed with you that you’ll be welcomed back and we can use it to our advantage. You won’t be sent in alone though, we have an idea of how this is going to go down, but we just need to flesh it out and work on the details. Obviously, Alice if you think you can’t do this and we can’t do it safely then it won’t be done.”

Hotch watched the girls face, assessing her body language as she fought with herself internally. After around a thirty seconds silence from everyone in the team as they waited, Alice finally nodded.

“I can do this.”

..

The next two days were organised mania, the team working hard and fast to work out exactly how to go around this. Aaron used his contacts within the police department that the compound would have technically fallen into, bringing them on board with the fast forming plan.

Alice and Spencer worked with JJ, drawing a huge layout of the compound as Alice remembered it, using aerial images of the surrounding area to map out the terrain as best as they could.

Garcia used the photographs that Alice had bought back with her, scanning them into her computer and using facial recognition to match the majority of faces to people that had been reported missing by the their families over a number of years, Alice shocked to find out that some of the people she’d lived with for years had abandoned high end careers to choose to live in Wonderland.

Setting up a chart, they listed the names into columns, Alice providing a small amount of detail about what she recall about their personalities and whether or not they’d be a risk or an asset to the operation if needed.

A team of undercover Agents had been despatched into the National Parks, posing as hikers in small groups and trying to get as close to the compound’s wall as they could. The BAU were waiting for feedback on any information that they’d gathered.

The plan was coming together nicely.

At the end of the first day it was decided that the team would send a message via the website, claiming to be from Alice and asking if she could come back. If they didn’t let her, they’d need a new plan after all. After getting Alice’s approval on the words sent, Penelope quickly worked her magic so that the email was in no way traceable to there current location and then hit send.

Now they just had to wait.


	24. Chapter 24

The reply came just before they finished up the following day, Penelope rushing out of office as Alice and Spencer were getting ready to leave.

“We have a reply, it’s signed off ‘Eric’ and it was sent from Rylon County public library.”

The team followed Penelope back into her office, gathering around the computer screen to read the reply.

_Alice,_

_When I reported back last night that I’d received a message claiming to be from you, the elders were shocked. Lewis however, wasn’t._

_Lewis was broken when you’d left, but then he remembered that this was part of the natural occurrence of events. A dream reminded him that this is what was meant to be and he told us all that you’d be back. That you needed to run to learn that Wonderland is where you were needed._

_I guess he was right._

_We can come for you and your new husband in two days time. The same place we picked you and Rebecca up from. 11pm on the 21st of the month._

_We’ll see you then._

_Eric_

Hotch re read the email and then stood up straight, looking from Alice to Spencer, and then back to Alice.

“Two days. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to prepare you Alice.”

“Prepare me how exactly. I’m the one that’s been around these people before, I’m the one that has lived there for nearly five years” she was indignant in her response and Spencer placed his hand lightly on her arm.

“He means to prepare our back story. If we’re married, we need to know certain things about each other and we need to learn to behave a certain way towards each other.”

Alice nodded, accepting what Spencer was telling her and turned back to Garcia at the computer.

“Are we replying now, telling him that we’ll be there?”

Penelope looked to Aaron, waiting for his go ahead.

“Reply, they’ll be there.”

…

Over the next forty eight hours Alice and Spencer rehearsed their stories.

The decided that he would have been her therapist, one her sister had forced her to meet with when she’d turned up out of the blue after five years missing. They were keeping Spencer’s name the same to avoid any confusion or potential slip ups and Penelope and the other technical genius’s had put out an internet block on his name; any searches for him coming from anywhere other than police departments would return details of a Dr Spencer Reid, the psychiatrist. One who had controversially married one of his patients eighteen months ago after treating her for three years.

Hotch and Rossi observed the pair interacting together, throwing random questions at them both, questions they might not expect but would have to think up answers for on the spot. Alice never faltered once, keeping to the same story she and Reid had created between themselves and coming up with believable answers for parts of the story that hadn’t been pre empted. Their body language towards each other reflected that of a married couple, two people comfortable in each others presence, although it seemed like Spencer had a slight edge on Alice.

Both Aaron and Dave noted the edge and appreciated that it gave the relationship that touch more realism, if Alice HAD been a patient then perhaps there would have been some manipulation going on, on Spencer’s part. It would be an unethical relationship and that slight hint of control that Spencer exhibited and Alice let him have, made it seem more believable, more passable. After all, she’d manipulated by a male once before. It very much seemed like they’d been born to play these parts against each other.

When they went back to her home late at night, they’d fall into their separate beds completely exhausted.

They didn’t tell Ellen and Robert what the plan was, Alice had made it clear that she did not want them to know until after they had left on the 21st. She was an adult, she could make her own decisions and this was one of them. Alice did not want to deal with her sister’s fit when she realised what Alice was planning to do. So Agent Hotchner had agreed with her to have an Agent fill her sister and brother in law in after they had left to go to Rylon County where Alice and Spencer would check into a motel room to await 11pm.

On the morning of the 21st, Alice hugged her sister and Robert tightly, surprising them both with the strength of her embrace. During the drive to hanger where the jet was kept, Spencer observed Alice wiping away a tear, the first sign of her struggling that he’d seen since she’d made the decision to go back in.

“I’m fine” she sensed him watching her.

“Are you sure? We still have time to pull out, we can think of another plan, it will just take longer. But if you feel the slightest doubt that you can’t do this, that _we_ can’t do this together, then we won’t.”

The car pulled into the hanger and came to a halt. Spencer spied the other Agents, the rest of his team who had been so painstakingly seeing to the rest of the plans, collecting and testing the equipment that would allow Alice and Reid to communicate with the rest of team over the next few days, putting in place back up plans and fail safes for if something went wrong. But nothing would go wrong, not if they played their parts correctly.

Or at least that’s what Spencer constantly told Alice.

“I’m fine. Spencer, when this is over and done, you’re going to lend me those Harry Potter books you offered to me okay. And I’m finally going to finish the story.”

Dr Reid nodded at the woman sat beside him, the woman who for the next few days he was going to be responsible for keeping alive as she thrown back into a life that she had so desperately worked to escape.

“Alice, I’ll not only lend you the books, but we will sit and watch the movies back to back.”

“All eight of them?”

“All eight of them.”


	25. Chapter 25

When they arrived at Rylon County Spencer and Alice were separated from the team and went off in a rental car to the motel they’d be waiting in.

They’d been fully briefed again during the plane journey, Hotch and Morgan making extra sure that Alice knew exactly how the technology that they were being sent in with worked. Listening devices concealed in a wrist watch for Spencer and a pendant for Alice, both with enough battery power to last up to 96 hours. The range on them had been field tested and the team were certain that they’d be able to listen in on any conversations that took place once Alice and Spencer were inside the compound.

They were also be sent in with two cells that on the outside, appeared to be just normal cell phones. They’d been pre loaded with the texts messages, internet search history as well as pictures which had been digitally altered to show a time line of Alice and Reid’s relationship. The cell phone itself probably wouldn’t be able to connect to the normal cell towers due to the location of the compound. However the team hadn’t ruled it out as the hikers that been sent in _had_ been able to get some limited service in the National Park but it was sketchy and unreliable. The cells could though be used to transmit via encrypted radio frequency once a certain code was entered from the lock screen. Alice had the code branded into her memory, knowing that if she somehow got separated from Reid that it would be her only way of communicating with the team. They had to be careful though. Although they’d be using an encrypted frequency, the park rangers also used CB radio to communicate with each other and Alice recalled that the compound had actually had a radio as well, although it was rarely used as far as she was aware.

Both were aware of the enormity of what they were about to do and Spencer was surprised by how calm and collected Alice was. When Hotch had tested them yesterday, she hadn’t reacted negatively to any of the curve balls he’d thrown at her. Her sister and brother in law, her professor, and even Alice herself had commented on how smart she was, but Spencer was only just realising to exact extent of her intelligence. Perhaps when this was over, she’d be interested in pursuing an actual career within the FBI. She was studying Criminal Psychology after all, although Reid realised that she’d mainly chosen that class in order to try to understand Lewis and his motives.

When they got to the motel and checked in, Alice went for a shower and then curled up in a ball on the bed, seemingly napping. The last few days had been long and Spencer knew she needed her rest. He busied himself on the laptop that he’d bought with him, checking in with Garcia who had set up at the local PD with the rest of the team. They had a few hours wait before the designated pick up time.

“How she doing?” Garcia asked him.

“She’s sleeping” Spencer glanced over to the bed, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Ally’s shoulders.

“Perhaps you should too. It could he a long night and you need to be alert in case anything… well, you know.”

Spencer did know and he agreed with Garcia. There wasn’t anything more he could any way, all of the plans were already in motion. He set his alarm for three hours time and settled down to sleep.

…

The night was cold and as Spencer and Alice exited their hire car at the pick up point, they could see their breath in front of them. Spencer huddled next to Alice, placing his arm around her shoulders to warm her just the way a good husband would.

“Are you okay?”

Ally nodded, brushing her hair out of her eyes and jumping slightly as she heard another car pull into the lot, parking behind them.

“I’m okay. Just nervous. But I’m fine. I’m ready.”

Spencer pulled her close, pressing a closed mouth kiss to her forehead, a show for the audience that had just pulled up and were exiting the truck.

The rest of the team watched from their various hidden vantage points, both Morgan and Rossi with sniper rifles trained on the newcomers, just in case. They waited.

Two tall males strode over to them, their eyes locked on Alice. In the dull light, Spencer could recognise them from Alice’s photographs as Eric and Charlie, Lewis’s sons. Reid could see two burlap sacks swinging from their hands, remembering that Alice had said that she and Rebecca had been blindfolded upon their initial journey into the camp.

The two men stopped in front the pair, the younger looking of the two looking at Ally with a sad expression. It was the older male that spoke though.

“Alice. Long time no see. We’re all very pleased to be welcoming you and your new husband back into the fold.” There was no hint of nastiness or disdain to his voice, Spencer noted. He seemed genuinely pleased to see Alice again.

“You remember how this goes right?” he held the sack out in front of him and Alice nodded.

She broke away from Spencer, moving towards the male and giving Reid one last glance before the sack was thrown over her head. The same was done to Reid and he felt himself being led towards a vehicle and helped inside.

“Watch your head Alice” he heard a low voice say as a hand was placed over his own head so he didn’t bump it.

The two rucksacks with their ‘belongings’ in were placed at their feet and he felt a small hand find his on the seat as the engine was switched on and the vehicle began to move.

“Spencer” Alice whispered, Spencer barely able to hear her over the engine.

“Mmmm?”

“I’m sorry. For everything.”


	26. Chapter 26

Spencer was on edge the whole ride to the compound. Alice’s apology had sent his brain into motion and he wondered if her words had been picked up on the listening devices and if the team were wondering the same thing.

What exactly was she apologising for? Simply dragging him in to this, or was there something more. _Was_ there something more to this?

But she’d been blindfolded too, surely if this was something else she wouldn’t have been. He tried to listen to her breathing to see whether he could pick up anything from it, but the sound of the truck travelling through the woods was too much. He’d just have to wait.

And wait he did, as did the team back at their base. It was around an hour before the truck came to a stop and Spencer heard one of the doors open and someone leave it. Moments later the vehicle moved forward, stopping again as the person rejoined them. Some sort of gate or entrance they had to go through, he assumed. They stopped again fifteen minutes later by his count and this time the doors by his and Alice’s sides were opened and the bags removed from their heads as they were helped from the vehicle, Alice scurrying quickly to be at his side and taking his hand. Spencer quickly pushed his earlier thought to the back of his mind. If this had been something else, why would she keep up the pretence?

He scanned the premises, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dull light of night sky. It was….. Almost exactly what he’d imagined from Alice’s description, yet he was in disbelief that this place had managed to go undetected from the public eye for so many years. Alice looked concerned and confused though and when he followed her eyeline he could see why.

The compound was dimly lit but he could make out dilapidated huts in the distance, homes in disrepair like they weren’t lived in. From what Alice had said, this place had been thriving and fully self sufficient so for there to be buildings in the sort of condition that these were in, made him wonder.

“Charlie…. What happened?” Alice addressed the younger of the two men, him coming to stand by her.

“You’ll find out tomorrow. No doubt Lewis will want to fill you in himself. But for now, I’m sure you’re both tired. Collect your things and we’ll show you to your room. Well, you know the way actually. It’s your old room.”

“In the main house still? Is that…. Isn’t that weird. I mean, Spencer and I…. Erm… ” she looked alarmed at the mention of her old room and Reid recalled that it had been next to Lewis’s.

“Lewis wanted you next to him and Rebecca.”

“Rebecca… Him and… Becca? But…” she turned to looked at the other man.

Eric looked at her and nodded. “Rebecca and I are no longer a match. After you left and Marnie died, Rebecca decided that she preferred my father to me and he was only too happy to accept her into his bed. I have no ill feelings towards either of them, I have a new match Jo, and we’re very happy together. She gave birth to our daughter last May, I finally got to be a Father.”

Eric smiled and he saw Alice soften. Something he’d said though irked Spencer and it took him a second to realise what.

Finally got to be a Father.

Alice had told him that the child she talked about; Abby, was Eric and Rebecca’s. Now though, he wasn’t so sure and when he looked at Alice with a question in his eyes, she looked away.

Eric took a step towards Reid and held out his hand towards him. “Excuse my manners, Ally hasn’t formally introduced us yet. I’m Eric and this is my brother Charles.”

Reid took his hand feeling a firm strong grip.“ It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both, to finally be here. I’ve heard so much about this place from Ally, although it took her forever to open up about it. My wife and I are very excited to be back and to help work towards the future. I’m Spencer, by the way.”

Eric released his hand with a nod and Reid turned towards the younger man and offered his hand to him, hating the pleasantries of hand shaking but knowing it was a must. Charles eyed him cautiously, his gaze flickering to Alice first and then back to him before finally accepting his hand and shaking it.

“I’m Charlie, not Charles. Let’s get your things. It’s cold out here.” He turned towards the truck, reaching in and hauling out the two back packs as Eric starting walking towards the house, beckoning for Spencer to follow him.

He held back slightly, especially when he saw Charlie place his hand and Alice’s arm, stopping her from walking away. Listening carefully he heard words leave his mouth, barely a whisper.

“Why did you come back? You got out, why did you come back?”

Reid couldn’t hear Alice’s reply but he saw her lips move. And as far as he could see, her response was “you know why. And we need your help.”

Charlie released his grip on her and walked towards Spencer, handing him his back pack and keeping Alice’s in his hands as he walked in the direction of the main house, following his brother.

Spencer looked at Alice questioningly again and she shook her head, taking his hand and leading him to the house.

As they entered through the main doors, Alice started to turn to the left, following Charlie until a voice stopped them all.

“Charles, Eric. We’re still up. Do bring them through to the sitting room.”

Alice balked and Spencer saw her eye lids close momentarily, her lips moving as they counted to five slowly. He was suddenly doubting her ability to do this when she opened them again and said to him loudly “Spencer, yes. I’m so pleased he’s still up. I can’t wait for you two to meet.”

She lead the way into the sitting room herself, tugging on Reid’s hand. It was only he who could feel the slight tremble to her grip though, especially as they walked into the sitting room and she locked eyes on the man she’d escaped from five years ago.

Reid took him in, feeling Lewis doing the same to Spencer as he rose and crossed the room to the pair to greet them.

“Alice…. ”

The girls acting ability shocked even Spencer then as she burst into tears, throwing her arms around the much older man’s neck and clinging to him.

“I’m soooo sorry Lewis, I’m soooo.. Oh god. I should have never…. I didn’t realise…. I didn’t know… Spencer… He made me see. Oh god… ”

Lewis embraced her, rubbing her back and soothing her, his voice soft and low as she cried.

“Ally, my love. It’s okay, it’s alright. This was meant to happen. Sometimes…. Sometimes it takes a big event to make you realise what’s right and what’s not. And…. Spencer?” he look to Reid who nodded, confirming that was indeed him “….. Spencer has obviously made you see right, and now you’ve come back. You’ve returned to your family. Where you belong.”

After a few more moments Alice retracted from his embrace and settled back as his side. He linked his arm around his ‘wife’s’ waist and placed a kiss to her cheek.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked her, keeping up the pretence of the loving husband.

“I am now. Oh… Spencer, this is Lewis! Lewis, this is Spencer. He was…. Well, my therapist to begin with but now he’s my rock, my love, my husband. I was in a bad way when I left, I was so confused by everything. But he’s made me see everything so clearly now. He’s brilliant and I think you two will share a lot of the same views.”

Lewis held his hand out to Reid, shaking it firmly.

“I have to assume that Alice has told you everything that happens here and my story.”

Reid nodded and the man continued on. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, get to know one another. And we’ll fill you in on what’s been happening. A lots changed since you left Alice. Our numbers are a lot smaller, our resource a lot less. But it’s fine, it will all come good in the end. Now….before you two go off to bed, there’s two more people who have been looking forward to seeing the new comers. Rebecca!?!”

He called out and a door the other side of the room opened. In walked Rebecca Olson, leading a small child of around seven or eight years old. The girl looked sleepy and rubbed her eyes, pushing her hair away from her face. Hair that was the exact same shade as Alice’s.

“Abby, say hello to our new camp mates. Well, not new exactly. I’m not sure but do you remember Ally? She was here when you were very small.” Lewis knelt down the the girls level and Spencer felt Alice stiffen next two him.

The young girl shook her head but waved at Reid and Ally whispering a small “hello” before she turned back to Rebecca.

“Mommy, can I go to bed now? I’ve said hello to the new people.”

Rebecca gave the child a smile as she scooped her up into her arms, smoothing her hair down. Spencer could now properly see the girls face, and he knew that there was no way this was Rebecca Olson’s biological daughter.

“Yes I’ll take you to bed now sweetie. Mommy will speak with her old friend tomorrow. Say good night to everyone, Abby.”

“Goodnight” she whispered, looking at Alice one more time, her brow furrowing as she was carried away.

Lewis was watching Alice for a reaction as were Eric and Charlie and she could sense all eyes were on her.

“It was nearly five years ago. It’s not surprising she doesn’t remember me. She’s grown, Lewis. She got big.”

“Children do that, Ally. She’s strong too, and such a character. She’s special, just like…. Well, just like you.”

She breathed deeply and then yawned.

“You and Spencer should head off to bed now too. We’ll all talk in the morning. Get some rest for now. You remember the way to your old room?”

“Yes. Good night Lewis. And thank you, for having us back.”

Alice stroke out of the room again, Charlie and Spencer following her until she got to a door which she opened and went through. Both men followed her, Charlie placing her back pack down on the floor.

“Good night Ally. Good night Spencer.”

“Charlie… Wait…. Is the room… ” she lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper “… Is the room safe to talk in?”

“Lewis has no disillusions about your intentions here Ally. It’s safe to talk in here as long as you’re quiet…. And Ally. What I said to you that night, it still stands.”

He looked at her, sadness clouding his face before he turned away and closed the door as he left the room.

Now they were alone, Spencer could finally ask the question he was sure he knew the answer to.

“Abby. She’s not Rebecca and Eric’s daughter is she. She’s yours. You lied to us.”

“I did. She’s my daughter. Mine and Lewis’s.”

She crossed the room to the double bed, feeling Reid’s eyes on her.

“And I bet you’d like to know what I else I lied about too, right?”


	27. Chapter 27

“And I bet you’d like to know what else I lied about too, right?”

Alice and Spencer stared at each other, his genius brain working overtime until she spoke again.

“Nothing Spencer. I haven’t lied about anything else. Except Charlie maybe but we’ll come back to him. I knew though that if you knew I had a child here, then you wouldn’t take me as serious. That I’d present a conflict of interests. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to come back in undercover, which would have put your team in an extremely tricky position trying to figure out another way to do this.”

“You should have told us.”

“There’s a lot of things that I should have done, could have done. But which I haven’t or didn’t for whatever reason. Yes Abby is my biological child. Which I left here. Think about that for a second. I ran. But I left her here. What kind of mother does that make me?”

“The kind….. ”

Alice interrupted him. “It doesn’t, Spencer, it doesn’t make me a mother. I left her and only thought about myself that night” she sat down on the double bed, kicking her shoes off and pulling her legs up beneath her. Spencer moved to the bed sitting by her to ensure they could keep their conversation hushed.

“You must have had your reasons for leaving her Ally, just like you had your reasons for coming forward when you did.”

“My reasons for leaving her, Spencer? They were this. I had no idea how to get her out and I had no idea what I’d do with her once I’d got her out. She may be my child biologically, but she never felt like it. I never had a bond with her, not like Rebecca and Marnie did. At most she was like an annoying little sister to me, one I’d carried inside me for nine horrific months. I spent most of the pregnancy in the infirmary because she was such a drain on me, I was so ill with her. When I was well enough to look after her, I didn’t know what to do. So the others did it for me. I’m not surprised she doesn’t remember me. She was two when I left her, toddling around and babbling. I’d play with her occasionally, try to act like a Mom to her but I couldn’t. It wasn’t me she went to if she needed anything, it was the others. I knew though, that Lewis would never let any harm come to her. He idolised her, just like he idolised me. She would have been looked after. She WAS looked after.”

Alice looked around the room, the room she’d lived in for so long. It hadn’t been changed at all since she’d left. It had been cleaned and the sheets changed but that was it.

“You’re judging me for leaving her here aren’t you? You think I’m a bad person, a bad parent.”

Spencer shook his head, choosing his words carefully. “I’m not judging you for leaving her here. If it wasn’t safe to take her with you, then you couldn’t take her with you. And I don’t think you’re a bad person or a bad parent. It sounds like you didn’t get chance to be a parent to her. It sounds like you may have been suffering from post natal depression if you struggled to bond with her. You were young and out in the middle of the woods where you wouldn’t have got the help or counselling you’d have needed. I’m not judging you at all and you need to believe me when I say you’re not a bad person, otherwise these next few days are going to be very hard, okay.”

“Okay… Spencer. I’m sorry for not telling you about her. It doesn’t change anything though. At least, not for me.”

Her hair had fallen forward shielding her face so Spencer very carefully leaned forward and gently pushed it back, tucking it behind her ear.

“Alice it does change things. When this is over, you’ll have a daughter to take care off.”

“I don’t think I can though. I don’t think I’ll be able to. I don’t think…. I don’t think I’ll want to because of everything she’ll remind me of. This place, him.”

Reid understood.

As did the rest of the team who had been very carefully monitoring the conversation back at their tiny base in the Rylon Country PD. They’d been as shocked as Spencer when they’d realised that Abby was Alice’s daughter. There wasn’t anything they could do about that now though. All they could do was bide their time until they had the information needed to be able to go in and take the camp down.

And for that, they needed Alice and Spencer to work together to get Lewis and any the other dangerous elders, to a certain place at a certain time so that they could swoop in.

They were intrigued by an earlier comment she’d made about Charlie and the snippets of the brief conversation they’d picked up between him and her. It very much sounded like Charlie could be an asset to them.

“Sir, they’ve gone to bed by the sounds of it.” Garcia called over to Hotch.

“Yes, it is late. Team, get some rest. We’ll monitor them overnight in case anything does happen but I think for tonight, that’s all we’re getting. We’ll wait for them to make contact tomorrow and start reassessing using any new information they feed to us.”

“Have we made a mistake sending Spencer in with Alice?” Dave voiced the same thoughts that the rest of the team had had when they’d discovered she’d been lying about having a child, one that was still living at the compound.

“I don’t think so. I don’t think it will affect her judgement. You heard her, she doesn’t feel any connection to the girl. If she did, I think she would have come forward a lot sooner.”

Dave nodded “True, true. I guess we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow now.”


	28. Chapter 28

Spencer and Alice both awoke early the next day having slept very little. They lay on the double bed next to each other, listening to the sounds of the compound waking up.

“Spencer, what’s the plan for today? What happens” Alice said lowly, shifting her weight.

“We try to find out what happened here whilst you were gone. Eric said last night that the numbers had dwindled and that we would find out why. So that’s what we do. We need to know how many people are here still, how many children, and get a sense of how many weapons they still have if it’s possible.”

“I can ask Charlie. He’ll tell us anything we need to know.”

“Will he though, what makes you so sure? He’s the leaders son. He bought you into the camp all those years ago.”

“He also helped me escape it.”

_Alice approached the part of the wall she was sure she’d be able to get over. It was part that Charlie was patrolling and she just hoped to God that she’d got her timings right._

_She kept to the shadows, moving between the buildings until she got to the wall._

_Yes. She could do this._

_Her heart pounding, she tossed her back pack up and over, wincing at the noise it made as it landed, seeming suddenly ten times louder that it should have been. She waited for a few seconds to see if anyone was coming, knowing that Charlie should in theory be beginning his walk back from the end of his stretch of perimeter._

_Nothing. No one came._

_Right, okay. Alice approached the wall and found her first foot hole, reaching up as high as she could to grab the top where the barbed wire had been crushed by a falling tree branch months ago. She couldn’t quite reach and came slamming back down to the ground._

_Shit._

_She looked around again, not noticing the eyes watching her from the shadows. She tried again, giving herself a little run and a jump and barely grasping the edge before coming back down again._

_She was so sure this would be her way out. She’d been able to get up onto the wall before to help repair it in other places. Why couldn’t she do it here? She tried once more, trying to avoid vocalising her frustrations when again she failed._

_“Do you need my help?”_

_Alice almost had a heart attack at the voice that appeared behind her. She spun around seeing Charlie stood there watching her._

_“I’m…. It’s…. Please don’t say anything!”_

_Her friend, her closest friend and confident at the camp just shook his head at her and reached out to smooth her hair back._

_“I’m not going to. Do you need my help? I can give you a boost, and then you need to run. Do you know where you’re going?”_

_Alice nodded, almost not believing that he was offering to help her. But then she remembered all of the longing looks exchanged between them, the long afternoons spent hidden together in the stables, reading books and talking with each other. She thought back to how Charlie would always be the first to come and ask her if she was okay whenever she wasn’t, how he was the one who visited her everyday in the infirmary._

_“Come with me” she blurted out._

_“I can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”_

_“Please? We can…. We can have a life outside of here.”_

_“Maybe one day we still can. Do what you need to do Alice, and maybe one day our paths will cross again. If you’re going though, you need to go now.”_

_“You’re not even going to ask me why?” she searched his face._

_“No. Because I know why. I know why you feel you can’t stay, and if there was a way out for me too, I’d leave. But there isn’t. So I’ll stay and I’ll watch over Abby for you. I’m so sorry I bought you into this. I’ve said it before and I still don’t think you believe me but I honestly had no idea about the things the elders were doing, what my own parents were doing.”_

_He looked so sad and Alice knew he was telling her the truth._

_“I’ve loved you Alice, from the moment we met at the library. I still do. If you stayed, I’d never let anything happen to you. I’d protect you as much as I could. I’d rather die than let anything happen to you.”_

_“I can’t…. I can’t stay. I can’t do this anymore, I don’t believe him and I can’t live here knowing that what’s happening here, is happening.”_

_She could feel her eyes filling with tears, her resolve wavering somewhat._

_“Alice, then you need to go. Get out. Tell people what’s happening here so they can bring it down. And when they do, we’ll find each other again. Somehow. But you need to go. ”_

_She did and she knew it. She lunged forward quickly, wrapping her arms around Charlie’s neck and pressing her lips to his, something that should have happened years ago before she’d let herself be manipulated and moulded by Lewis. He kissed her back for a moment, his hands gripping her waist tightly before pulling away._

_“Come on. I’ll boost you up. Then run, okay.”_

_“Okay.”_

_She turned back to wall, stepping into Charlie’s laced hands when he offered them to her as a foothold. With his boost she easily managed to reach the top of the wall, grabbing onto it and swinging herself over, carefully lowering herself down on the other side._

_“You okay?” she heard Charlie whisper as she hauled on her back pack, finding the torch and her drawn map._

_“Yes” she whispered back._

_“Now run. And don’t look back.”_

_She did as she was told._

“So Charlie actually helped you leave?” Spencer asked Alice in hushed tones.

She nodded, remembering that night. “He did. He wanted me to go to the authorities, he knew what was happening wasn’t right. He just couldn’t leave himself.”

“So you think he’ll be an asset to us.”

“Spencer, he said he’d rather die than let anything happen to me. He’ll help us if we tell him what we need. We just need to get him alone.”

“Okay. Then that’s what we’ll aim to do today then.”


	29. Chapter 29

When Alice and Spencer dressed and left their bedroom, they were greeted in the kitchen of the main house by Rebecca and Lewis. Spencer could see Alice searching the room, presumably looking for Abby.

“Charlie has taken Abby with him on his morning chores” Lewis told her, obviously clocking her search. “I thought Spencer could join me on mine whilst Alice reconnects with Rebecca.”

Alice felt uneasy about allowing Spencer to be alone with Lewis so early on, before remembering that he _was_ an FBI agent and therefore trained to handle all sorts of situations,much better than she was.

“Okay, sure.” Spencer leant over to Alice, giving her a peck on the cheek and a reassuring squeeze on her arm before he walked over to join Lewis.

“We’ll see you two girls in the main hall for breakfast in about an hour.”

The men left and Rebecca turned to Alice.

“So. You’re back.”

“I am.”

“I hope you realise that you can’t just slip back into the role of his favourite. I put time and effort in after you left him to get to where I am now. I’m not giving that up Alice, not for you.”

Alice was taken aback by the hint of venom in her old friends voice, the steely glint in her eyes.

“And Abby doesn’t even know who you are so don’t for one second….. ”

“Becca, I didn’t come back her to claim Abby or Lewis. I came back because Spencer helped me realise that I’d made a mistake and that we needed to be here to help plan for the future. I’m not here to win my position of Lewis’s match back and I’m certainly not here to be Abby’s Mom.”

“You were barely that before you left.”

Ally tried not be hurt by the words. They were true after all.

“Becca. I don’t want to take anything away from you. If I did, would I have really come back here with my husband?”

Rebecca’s gaze softened and her tone became less harsh.

“True. So tell me about him, tell me how you met. He’s pretty cute.”

Alice saw a glimpse of her old friend as a girlish giggle left Becca’s throat. She pulled up a chair around the old wooden kitchen table and told her the ‘story’ of how her and Spencer came to be. Becca relaxed more and more as Alice weaved her web of lies convincingly, not noticing Abby and Charlie slip back in until the young girl climbed onto Rebecca’s lap.

“I’m hungry” the young girl told her. “Can we go for breakfast now?”

“We can. Have you and Charles finished your chores though first?”

The child nodded, Alice’s eyes watching her every movement. She’d seen plenty of photos of herself when she was younger and Abby was the spitting image of her when she was seven. It was weird, seeing the seven year old version of herself sitting on someone else’s lap. So very weird.

“Come on then. Let’s go to the main hall. Breakfast should about be ready now anyway. Alice, there shouldn’t be too much of a commotion when the rest of the camp see you. There was a meeting before the boys went to fetch you and Spencer, the camp were told you were returning but not to bombard you with questions.”

What was strange was how Rebecca referred to Charlie and Eric as ‘the boys’. Both were older than her, Charlie only by a few months. But it seemed she’d fully stepped into and embraced the role of Lewis’s partner, his match. And that role included replacing Marnie as the mother figure of the family it appeared.

Abby slid off Becca’s lap and started tugging her to the door, turning to look at Alice who hadn’t moved from the table. She was hoping to wait a few moments, to be able to catch Charlie alone.

“Are you coming with us?” she asked her. Alice nodded and stood up, following them out of the kitchen and outside, Charlie falling into step beside her as the walked across the camp to the main hall which was used for camp meals.

In the harsh light of day Alice could see how many of the huts appeared to be in disrepair, windows boarded up indicating they were no longer being lived it. The camp looked nothing like it had when she was here, it wasn’t bustling with life the way it should have been this time of day. She dropped to the floor, quickly tugging her shoelace loose so she could retie it, Charlie stopping with her as Abby and Becca walked on hand in hand.

“Ally…?”

“I know, I know. We need to talk. Me, you AND Spencer. We need your help.”

Their voices were low, Alice knowing she didn’t have much time.

“I’ll… I’ll think of something. I’m on gardening duty in the herb and vegetable garden later. I’ll suggest you two join me.”

Becca looked back, frowning slightly when she saw Alice knelt on the floor. Ally hauled herself to her feet, accepting Charlie’s hand to help her up and giving it a squeeze, whispering “thank you”.

They quickly caught up with the other two, entering the main hall just as Spencer and Lewis reappeared. She didn’t know exactly where Lewis had taken him and she was having trouble reading the look on his face but when he saw her, he smiled and nodded, letting her know everything was okay.

They walked into the hall together, behind Lewis and Becca, and Alice stopped, a sharp intake of breath leaving her chest.

It was standard practice for everyone in the camp to have meals together, cooking duties shared on a rota. Occasionally, people where exempt and in the past when she’d been here before, they had sometimes eaten meals as a smaller group in the main house but it was very rare. As Alice looked around the room though, some familiar faces looking up and greeting her with a nod, she saw that it was only a third full.

“Is this….. Everyone?” she asked quietly.

Lewis answered her. “Yes my love. I was actually explaining to Spencer this morning about how the camp would seem very different from when you were last here and from what he was probably expecting. I thought Rebecca would have bought you up to speed on the events of the last five years?”

“We didn’t get chance to talk about it, Lewis” Becca told him.

“Ah well. I’ll let Spencer explain then over breakfast and Charlie can fill in the blanks. You can all sit on the end table over there, with Abby. Becca, we should go and catch up with Oliver.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed slightly at the name of the ex doctor who had resided over the clinic, her quickly straightening her face to a neutral expression as Charlie led them away to their table.

Perhaps now she’d get some answers, not that they could talk much with Abby being there.


	30. Chapter 30

Over a breakfast of porridge and fruit Spencer and Charlie filled Alice in on the last five years, Spencer using the information he garnered this morning from his time with Lewis, and Charlie filling in the blanks. Breakfast itself had been an odd experience as Alice had gone up to Hazel and Richard who were serving up that day. She knew them both from her time there before and both of them had given her questioning looks as they greeted her.

“Welcome back Ally” Hazel had said as she filled her bowl with oats. She’d locked her eyes on to Alice’s, cocking her head to the side. “We thought…. When Lewis and Marnie told us you’d left, neither of us expected to ever see or here from you again. We thought… Something else had happened to you.”

Alice smiled nervously as she spoke with the couple she’d last seen five years ago. “Well here I am!”

“Yes. Here you are.”

It was a very strange exchange and Alice very much got the impression that they wanted to say more to her but couldn’t.

As they sat at the small table, the three adults kept their voices low as Abby ate. Alice discovered that in total, there were only around forty people remaining at Wonderland, eight of them children. A virus that Spencer said sounded very much like the bird flu virus had swept through the camp around eighteen months after she’d left. It had infected a lot of the residents, taking the lives of some of the elderly and the children. Those it hadn’t claimed had been weakened, falling ill the following winter. The infirmary had been packed, Charlie had told them, and then another infection had taken hold but neither Oliver or Molly, the nurse, had known what it was. It began as a series of small bumps on the skin, effecting only those who were in the infirmary already. It quickly manifested into a strong fever and the bumps turned into boils which no matter what they did, didn’t seem to heal. Oliver and Molly reportedly tried using all of the antibiotics that they’d managed to get their hands on but nothing worked against it and eventually the residents who were infected organs began to shut down and that was the end for them.

“MRSA” Spencer had commented, Alice wriggling up her nosebut nodding in agreement.

“So two viruses took out two thirds of the camp?” Alice asked quietly. Charlie shook his head at her.

“No. After you left…. some other people decided to try to escape too. I guess not everyone was as believing in my Father’s story and plan as they let on.”

“How far did they get?” Alice whispered.

“Some, all the way I think. Others….were caught before they made it out, but they never rejoined camp” he gave her a pointed look and she understood.

“Charlie… You don’t believe… do you?”

He looked around carefully. “That my Father was sent back in time from the future to prepare for some sort of apocalypse? No. I used to, because he’s my Father and you accept what your parents say no matter how crazy it is. But I’ve grown up a lot since then and it just doesn’t make any sense, it CAN’T make any sense. And his reasoning behind a lot of the things he does is just….. Wrong. I think he’s a very sick man mentally, one who functions very well and has managed to sway a lot of other people into his illusions.”

“Charlie, I’m finished!” Abby announced, her spoon making a clanging sound as she placed it back on the table.

“Good girl. Go put your bowl away now Abby, ready for washing up duty.” The girl stood and scurried away to the other end of the room.

“You two aren’t married are you?” he asked quickly and quietly.

“Not in here Charlie.” Alice hushed him.

“Later then. We’ll talk later. I want to help, I’ll tell you anything you need to know. I want out of this place too, I want to live an actual life away from here. I assume that’s why you’re here… To bring this place down?”

Spencer and Alice exchanged a glance, neither of them replying to him, not knowing if they should give a concrete answer where they were.

He sensed their hesitation. “Okay, we’ll talk later.”

…

Back at the FBI base the team were processing the mounds of new information they’d garnered. It had seemed that Lewis had simply taken Spencer on a tour of property this morning, so they’d been able to cross off areas on the layout that Alice had drawn them, if they were no longer in use or relevant.

Since the infection outbreak, the infirmary had moved buildings, the one sensible thing the camp elders had done. They’d heard Spencer asking about disposal of the deceased and Lewis telling him that because they lost so many in such a short period of time, they opted for a mass grave which was set outside of the camp. So many camp members had been weakened that they couldn’t afford the time or labour to take each body back to town where the deceased could be collected and laid to rest by their families.

At least that explained the absence of the mass influx of victims, although they were going to have to find this mass grave at some point or another.

They had more details that they needed to know they answers to though, details they needed Spencer and Alice to get for them so that they could plan how they were going to proceed.

“What are you thinking so far?” Aaron asked Rossi.

“Mainly that we need to separate Lewis, Rebecca and possibly Eric away from the others. Right now, I don’t think the rest of the camp will be that dangerous. If we can separate those three and bring them in, I thinking the others will come peacefully. From what we’ve heard Charlie say it sounds that a lot of the residents are disillusioned with the place and want to leave anyway, they just can’t figure out how to.”

“I agree. There may be a few other elders we need to be aware of, perhaps Oliver and Molly. We need to know what the weapon situation is, although we know that they lost their weapons trainer to MRSA. Alice didn’t mention anyone else that was ex army but she might not have necessarily known herself or people may have come after she left.”

“True. From what Lewis told Reid though, they’ve had a severe lack of newcomers recently. He’s holding up very well so far. So is she aside from the curve ball she threw us all last night.”

Aaron sighed. Alice having a child at the camp did complicate things even if it was a child that she didn’t feel particularly connected to. He understood why she hadn’t told them, but he also couldn’t believe that none of them had picked up her outright lie to them which had made him internally question the validity of other things she’d said. However when Spencer had had a brief moment alone this morning in the bathroom, he has whispered into the listening device that he had no other concerns about her. He believed and trusted her still and that was the important part.

Now they just had to wait to see what Alice and Spencer could find out from Charlie this afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a big ask but if you’re enjoying my content and you’re financially able to then you may consider buying me a Ko-Fi as a way of financially supporting my writing. Many thanks to you if you do, it means so much to me that anyone might enjoy my work enough to dontate to me
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/cherrywhisp


	31. Chapter 31

Once breakfast was over, Alice and Spencer stayed behind with Charlie to help Hazel and Richard clean up. They wanted to be seen to be making an effort to fit into camp life, to show Lewis that they really did want to be here.

Lewis had looked at them approvingly when he saw Alice and Spencer taking the stacks of dishes through to the back, following them to speak with them.

“I’m pleased to see you’re both getting stuck in. We’ll add you into the chore rota in a few days once Spencer has had chance to settle.”

“Thank you. We want to get back into a routine as soon as possible. Charlie mentioned that he’s on gardening duty in the herb garden later. We thought we might tag along and help unless there was something else you wanted us to do?” Alice asked the question so casually, unloading plates onto the huge wooden worktop as she did.

“That sounds like an excellent plan. You and Spencer should also think about looking for a new hut to call your home. I know we put you in your old room last night, but Spencer suggested this morning that you two have your own place and I do now agree. You two are together after all and I think Spencer feels slightly uncomfortable sharing the same bed that we used to share.”

Alice was surprised that Spencer had out rightly made that suggestion, he was meant to be appeasing the leader so they could learn their secrets, not coming in and making changes straight away. But when she saw Lewis look over to Spencer she saw a look of respect upon his face. In a small period of time Spencer had managed to win Lewis over. Part of his FBI training, or part of his natural personality, Alice couldn’t tell. She did feel most at ease with him out of all the Agents she’d encountered over the last week, but she assumed that because she’d sought him out and not the others. But then again, out of everyone they could have chosen to go in with her, it had been him. Alice knew in part it was down to the relationship the two had with each other but given how dangerous Lewis and the other elders had the potential to be, the BAU could have chosen someone else. Someone more skilled in weaponry or combat. But they’d sent him, because he obviously didn’t need any of that. He could disarm with his brain, his words, rather than with a gun; that was his special skill.

“Oh! I hadn’t actually thought he might feel that way but yes, it would be nice for us to have our own place. Are there any specific huts we’re limited to, or is it just any that are boarded up?” Alice wanted to check that he wasn’t trying to move her to another place where there were perhaps listening devices, or it was some sort of a trap. Although Lewis had given her no reason to be, she was paranoid.

“Any of the of empty huts. Take your pick. After you’ve helped Charlie in the garden, perhaps he could take you around them and help get one ready once you choose one. The garden should only take an hour or so with three of you.”

Alice nodded, looking over to Spencer who was listening in.

“This evening, we’ll all eat together again in the main hall. You and Spencer can sit with Rebecca and I, at the main table.”

Where everyone could see her, Alice thought. Not that everyone was a lot of people nowadays.

…

The herb and vegetable garden wasn’t as Alice remembered it. When they moved the infirmary, they left the garden where it was but because of the amount of sickness over the last few years, it wasn’t as well tended to. The poppy beds were gone, they’d become too overgrown Charlie told them and they were no longer a source of income for the camp. In fact, their income had also drastically reduced as their numbers had.

Making extra sure that they weren’t being watched, Charlie placed the shears that he’d been using down.

“So what’s the deal then. Are you a cop?” he addressed Spencer and Alice felt her breath hitch in her chest as she moved to Reid’s side.

“I’m not a cop, no.”

“What then? You two aren’t married. I know Alice well enough to be sure that once she left this place, she wouldn’t let herself be manipulated by another man, especially one who wanted her to come back here.”

“Charlie…. ” Alice reached out and pressed her hand to his arm.

“Five years Ally. I thought when I helped you leave, that there’d be police here almost immediately, ready to take this place down.”

“I was scared.”

“So was I. I was scared something had happened to you in the woods. I was scared of my own father and mother, the people I’d grown up around. I was scared of who I was going to become because I hadn’t had the guts to leave like you had. I was scared I was never going to see you again, Alice.”

“Charlie… I’m here now. It took me a while to gather up the courage to do the right thing, but I’m here now.”

“So you’re here. What happens now. Why are you here, and who is Spencer?”

Alice glanced to Reid exchanging a look. He gave a slight nod of his head.

“You said what you said the night I left still stands?”

“Yes.”

“And we can trust you. We need to be able to trust you Charlie.”

The older man seem exasperated “Alice, I helped you escape. I stayed behind to help make sure your daughter was safe. You can trust me. I want out of this place too. My father, Lewis… He needs help, he’s not right, he never has been, the older I got and the more I saw of people, the more I read about the world, the more I realised that he couldn’t be telling the truth. He’s done things, terrible things, and he’s convinced other people to do those terrible things for him. Whatever it takes to get out of here, to get the people that do want to leave out, I’ll do. You can trust me. ”

Spencer moved forward so that he was closer to Charlie, keeping his voice low.

“I’m FBI. I work in the Behavioural Analysis Unit and Alice approached us a little over a week ago and told us about this place, about her time here and what happened. My team is highly trained and highly skilled, and Alice and I have been sent back in to find out numbers, to gather intelligence so that my team can take Lewis and then other dangerous residents into custody. But we need details, details you can give to us. Are you willing to help us.”

The team were on the edge of their seats, Agent Hotchner ready to give the signal for the Agents in the area surrounding the compound to swoop in, should Charlie prove untrustworthy.

After an intense moment of waiting, Charlie spoke.

“What do you need to know? I’ll tell you anything and everything.”


	32. Chapter 32

Over the next hour Charlie told Spencer everything he could, answering all of the profilers questions to the best of his knowledge.

The team listened in, taking note of everything the man said and adding it the list of information they already had.

The camps numbers were a lot smaller now, they already knew that from the conversation that had taken place at breakfast. The “elders” now consisted of Lewis and his family, as well as Oliver, Molly and Nicholas; an ex lawyer who hadn’t been there when Alice had. Charlie couldn’t give the exact number of weapons that the camp had left and he didn’t think he could get them all into the armoury undetected, but he knew they’d had to sell over half of what they owned on the black market.

Since the incident with Katie’s blood five years ago, they’d lost their blood buyers. Giving blood was no longer a necessity, the residents had been told; they now had enough supplies. The real reason was that the buyers could no longer trust Lewis to provide them with clean blood, and they weren’t willing to pay to take the chance anymore. The poppies had still provided an income for a few years until the illnesses had broken out and the camp had struggled to maintain and farm the crop. With no one able to properly look after it, the quality had become poor, and again their buyers weren’t interested in poor quality stock. With the income from these avenues dwindling and the number of residents severely reduced, the elders had made the decision to sell some of the guns and a few of the vehicles the camp owned, to generate income in order to buy food and other supplies they needed to survive. All in all, the camp had suffered a number of blows over the years which had put them in an extremely bad position. Although they tried to be as self sufficient as possible, it had only worked when they had the people there to maintain it. The herb garden was a mess and the vegetable crops had been all but ruined, so they were having to start from scratch again, and pay for food in the mean time whilst they worked themselves back up.

This wasn’t good from the elders perspective but from the FBI’s perspective, it was very good news indeed.

“What’s your plan then, what happens now?” Charlie asked when Spencer had ran out of questions that he could answer.

“I need to communicate with my team, later on today. And then come up with a plan to separate Lewis and possibly Rebecca from the others. My team can then approach and take them into custody.”

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. “I could help with that. One of the perimeter gates, it’s been unstable for a while now. Some bad winds over the winter caused it to take quite a bashing and I’ve been telling Lewis that it’s going to come down any night. If I tell him it’s down, he, Nicholas and…. ” he hesitated slightly before continuing, “…. Eric, they’re the best builders that we have here now. They’ll rush to it if it actually collapses. Could your team make that happen if I tell you which gate it is? It’s far enough away from the main area of the compound and it’s a fairly big area with enough places for people to hide undetected.”

Spencer was nodding along with Charlie as he was speaking. That could work. In fact it could work extremely well. But he needed to communicate with the team.

“Can you show me where it is?” Spencer asked him.

“I can later if that’s okay. I have no reason to be seen over that end of the compound now but later I will have. You can come with me then. I do have a question though. What happens…. What happens afterwards. To people like myself and Alice. We’ve done things, but only because we’ve been forced to.”

Spencer understood the younger man’s question, it was one plenty of people in his position would have. He’d essentially assisted in the murder of innocent people and not done anything, but only because he felt that he had to.

“It’s going to take the FBI a while to wrap this whole case up due to the amount of people involved. Our main concern is Lewis…..”

“….it should be Rebecca as well. She’s a lot more manipulative and dangerous than she’d have you believe. Trust me, she’s had a major hand in some of the decisions made here over the last five years.”

“Alright well our main concern is Lewis and any of the other dangerous elders. The elders were the ones making the decisions to kill people and end their lives, and they were the ones doing it. I know that you and Alice were dragged into that, but the FBI help people who help them. You won’t go to jail Charlie, I can tell you that much.”

“Okay. It’s just going to be so strange not being here. Getting to lead a normal life.”

“I’ll help you Charlie, we’ll help each other” Alice piped up from where she was stood.

“Alright, we have all the information we need for now. Are we done here because we need to go and choose somewhere else for us to sleep for tonight and possibly tomorrow. I’m hoping that by the night after, this will all be over and I can sleep in my own bed. It’s been a while.”

…

During the afternoon Spencer and Alice chose another hut to spend the next few days in, making a big show of cleaning it up and moving their few belongings into it. It was closer to the main hall that it was the main house, Alice purposely choosing somewhere as far away from Lewis as she could get.

Before dinner, Charlie came and collected Spencer as Alice was still cleaning, taking him to the gate he’d been talking about earlier and when the two returned, they ventured to the main hall for the evening meal.

The meal was strained somewhat. Alice acted as normal as she could, casually making conversation with Lewis and Rebecca, watching Abby eating out of the corner of her eyes and trying to push away the unexplainable feelings she felt towards the girl. There’d been a lot of tension caused by Spencer, oddly enough. Asking the wrong questions at the wrong times.

“So why the name ‘Wonderland’, Lewis?”

Alice had looked up at her partner sharply, wondering what the hell he was playing at. This wasn’t on the list of questions that they’d needed the answers to, this was a question that Spencer specifically wanted the answers to.

“I just thought it was fitting. A retreat in the middle of the woods, for people who were lost.” Lewis gave his answer as he continued to eat.

“And the use of the rabbit as the symbol?” his voice was conversational and curious, but Alice could see that Dr Reid was carefully watching Lewis’s reactions.

“Rabbits symbolise a lot of different things. Rebirth, growth, abundance, harmony, family. All of the things this camp is about. We will have all of these things when the world falls because we are the only ones who are prepared for it.”

Spencer swallowed the piece of food he was eating. “Alice told me that you couldn’t remember your name when you were first found. Why choose Lewis?”

“It seemed right.” The older man had now placed his knife and fork onto the table and was looking over at him.

“It seemed right? And then when you met Alice, you automatically knew that she was the person who was going to save you all?”

Lewis smiled at Ally and she cringed internally. Rebecca had now also placed her cutlery down and had a sneer on her face when she saw the look Lewis was giving Alice.

“Alice will be the one who saves us all. She’s special, Spencer. As her husband, I imagine you know that more than any of us. In the future, she’ll be a major asset to this group. She’ll lead when I no longer can. I always knew she’d return.”

“Have you ever heard of an author called Lewis Carroll?”

Both Alice and Charlie now dropped their cutlery to the table in shock that he’d asked that question. Alice nudged the Agents leg hard with her own, not even seeing him register her knock.

“I don’t believe I have, no. My darling Marnie used to read to me when I was first found and placed in the hospital but I rarely read myself. It was my son and Alice who were the bookworms here. Why do you ask, Spencer?”

“No reason, no reason at all.”

…

Across town Park Ranger Julian Demarco was having dinner with his wife and her brother, along with his family.

Julian despised his brother in law Jonathan. He worked for Rylon County PD and always walked around like he had a stick up his ass, thinking he was better than him because Julian was only a Park Ranger.

Tonight’s family get together was proving to be a lot more interesting than most though. Jonathan was known amongst his family for being a motor mouth, if you wanted gossip spreading, he was the person to tell; he was worse than the women. This evening he was telling them all how the FBI were in town, investigating and working to bring down a cult that were allegedly living in the Blue Dove National Park.

The same cult who made it possible for Julian to take his family on so many vacations a year. He’d known about the group of people living there for years, since he’d started out as a Ranger.

“They’ve sent two people in undercover?” he asked his brother in law, knowing full well Jonathan should not be revealing this information to them.

“Yep” he mumbled through a mouth full of food. “One of the Agents and a girl who used to live there. Don’t you patrol that area?”

“Not that specific area of the park no.” Lies, but Julian had become accustomed to lying about the compound.

“It just seems mad that it’s been there for years and no one knew about it.”

Julian nodded in agreement, thinking that after dinner, he’d be making an excuse to go out for a drive.


	33. Chapter 33

“Spencer.. What the hell was that all about?”

It was after dinner and all the remaining chores had been done. Spencer and Alice were walking back to their new hut and Alice was whispering furiously to him.

“What? Oh come on Ally, you can’t tell me you’ve not been dying to ask him those questions. Plus, I wanted to judge his reactions.”

“And?”

“And it’s like you said to me before. He seems to genuinely believe everything he’s saying. He gave no indication of actually being aware of Lewis Carroll and his Alice stories, but it’s likely it’s come from somewhere deep within his subconscious. Perhaps his mother or a carer used to read them to him before…. Well before whatever happened to him, happened.”

“Do you think we’ll ever know what actually did happen to him to make him believe the things he does?” This was one the major things that was eating away at Alice.

“Honestly. Probably not. Even with our advanced technology, Penelope hasn’t been able to figure out who is actually is and where he came from. Thousands of children go missing each year, either through abductions or running away from home. The story when the Goldsteins found him was big enough to make the local and some national newspapers because of who they were, so it’s a possibility that his real parents or guardians would have seen it and that they just didn’t care.”

They stopped outside of their hut.

“But that’s so sad” Alice commented.

“Yes, it is. But it happens. More than you’d like to think.”

She didn’t reply, opening the door to their ‘home’ and entering it, kicking off her shoes. The huts were very simplistic, with only one room that housed a bed, a fire place and some cupboards and counters for storage. There were communal toilets and showers for everyone to use and meals were prepared and eaten together in the main hall anyway. It was only the house where Lewis and Rebecca lived, where Alice had lived, that had its own bathroom and kitchen.

“So what do we do now?” she asked, lowering herself onto the bed.

“Make contact with the team.”

Spencer rummaged in his bag and found the cell phone, typing in the code that would switch it to radio transmission instead. When he’d spoken to Charlie alone earlier he’d asked about the camps own radio, pleased to be told that it was no longer in use. Spencer tapped away, adjusting the frequencies until finally he heard the voice of his supervisor.

“Dr Reid, Alice?”

“We can hear you” Spencer replied, moving to sit by Ally on the bed.

“We’ll make this quick, just in case. You’re both doing very well, keep it up. The plan that Charlie mentioned to you both earlier, will definitely work and that area of the compound is a decent spot to do it in. We can’t do it tonight though, we need access to that gate to pull it down when Charlie is on duty which is tomorrow, according to what we overheard earlier.”

“Yes” Spencer nodded “Eric is in duty there tonight.”

“So you two have one more day, then we’ll get you out.”

“How though” Alice asked. “Do we go to the gate as well?”

This was something the team were still working on. Did they leave Alice and Spencer in until they’d taken the others into custody or did they ‘take them into custody’ at the same time. They might need Spencer and his mind if things went wrong.

“Do you think Charlie would be able to get you both a weapon?”

“We can ask.” Spencer replied.

“Then ask. Make contact with us again tomorrow night and we’ll let you know what needs to happen. For now though, both of you get some rest.”

Hotch signed off and Spencer reset the cell and placed it back into his bag. They both prepared for bed, sliding in next to each other.

Alice felt Spencer fidgeting, her brow furrowing when she looked over and saw he was removing his watch and stuffing it under his pillow. He tapped his neck, motioning for her to do the same with her pendant. She didn’t question him, however confused she was.

“They don’t need to hear this” Spencer told her when she’d removed hers, pushing it under the mattress.

“Alright. What don’t they need to hear.”

“The way you and Charlie interact with each other…. Is Abby his?”

Ally was taken aback slightly at his question and then she shook her head.

“No. Nothing ever happened between us. I kissed him goodbye and that was it. Why do you ask?”

“Because even after all these years, it still seems like he’d do anything for you. Which whilst that is immensely helpful to the team and our cause, did make me wonder whether there was another underlying reason other than him just being in love with you. Which he still is by the way. That’s plain to see.”

“Oh… Abby is Lewis’s. He’s the only person I’ve been with, ever. And I don’t know why I feel like I need to tell you this, but I’m not in love with Charlie. For a while when I was here, I thought I was. But…. It’s strange, he was always there and if Lewis hadn’t have chosen me then I probably would have ended up with him but I didn’t.”

“The way you’re interacting with him now though, the little looks you give him, the small touches. You’re making him believe that you are and that there’s a chance for you two when this is over.”

“Because we need his help, right? So I’ll use what I have to get it.”

Spencer shook his head slightly “You’re an extremely good actress Alice. It’s surprising.”

“Well you know, I had to rely on it when I was here before to keep myself in Lewis’s favour. It’s amazing how well you can lie when your life depends on it.”

“Just…. Be careful. When this is over, there’s a chance he’ll want more from you. And as friend as well as an Agent, I strongly recommend you don’t get into a relationship with him. If he’s still infatuated with you after all these years and still willing to risk things for you…. ”

“….I know what you’re thinking Spencer. Mental illness is hereditary. I’ll tread carefully when this is over. Also… So we’re friends now?” she smiled softly at him in the dim light of the room.

“I’d say so. Given the amount of time we’ve spent around each other…. You can put your pendant back on now.”

She nodded, shifting slightly on the bed. Rather than reaching under mattress though, she reached out and gently touched Spencer’s face, feeling him stiffen.

“Don’t worry… I’m not going to try anything inappropriate here. I just…. Thank you. For everything.”

They looked at each other for a moment, an understanding passing between them before she moved her hand away and reached for her necklace, Spencer doing the same for his watch. He knew the team would be wondering what that was all about but he had simply wanted to talk to her without them listening, he didn’t think they needed to hear that conversation.

The two settled down under the covers, closing their eyes and drifting off to sleep, not hearing the Park Rangers truck arriving in the middle of the night.

…

“What the….. Get off me! Spencer… SPENCER!”

Alice was being dragged out of the bed, her arms being twisted tightly behind her back.

The room was alight with flash lights and lanterns and she could make out the figures of Nicholas and Lewis hauling Spencer out too, him flailing as he tried and failed to fight the two men.

Ally struggled against the hold, whipping her head around to see that it was Eric who was gripping her and preventing her from moving, and she spotted Charlie and Rebecca in the corner of the room.

She narrowed her eyes at Charlie, seeing him shaking his head at her as she tried to lash out at Eric.

“Stop fighting” Rebecca hissed at her. “Neither of you are going anywhere.”

Alice looked over to Spencer locking her eyes on his and trying to communicate with him. What did they do now?

“Are you FBI?” Lewis asked Spencer calmly, walking around so he was stood in front of him as Nicholas held him tightly.

He shook his head.

Rebecca crossed the room to Alice, Alice feeling the sharp sting on her face and tasting blood as her old friend slapped her hard around the face, causing her to bite down hard on her lip.

“Are you FBI?” Lewis asked him again.

Spencer shook his head once more, as Rebecca reared her hand back and punched Alice in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her. Her knees buckled, only Eric’s grip keeping her upright.

“Are you FBI?” came the question again.

Alice saw the glint of steel in Rebecca’s hand and braced herself for the pain that was going to come. Spencer saw the knife at just the right time, noting the smile on Rebecca’s face.

“Yes……I’m FBI.”

Eric let go of Alice and she fell to the floor, rolling over into the fetal position as Lewis gave his next command.

“Tie them up and bring them to the main house. Do it quickly and quietly, gag them both”


	34. Chapter 34

“Hotch….”

Derek was in the woods with Rossi and the small team of Agents that were on duty with them that night. They’d heard the commotion over the transmission, due to the range on the devices they had to transmit via the tiny base that had been set up in the woods and it was then routed back to Garcia via a much more powerful device. This meant that there was a small time delay on the transmissions and Derek and Rossi were both waiting further instructions from their superior with baited breath.

“Hold fast. Do not go in. We need to wait” came the reply. Derek shook his head, letting out a huff.

“For how long?” Rossi asked, his tones hushed.

“However long it takes. We’re coming in to meet you. Penelope will remain here. Lewis will expect our presence in the woods no doubt but we don’t want to give our positions away. JJ and I will be with you shortly. Do NOT go in. Morgan…. ”

Derek was clenching his teeth but nodded at Rossi.

“We’ll hold back” Dave spoke for the two of them, knowing his colleagues emotions were running high, his need to protect Reid kicking in.

“Alice and Reid are still alive. The listening devices haven’t been located yet, you can still hear them breathing. Garcia has managed to ramp the volume up on the transmission, they’re still alive.”

“Yeah but for how long?” Morgan muttered under his breath.

…

Alice couldn’t see where she was. She’d been blindfolded and gagged before being forced to walk, to the main house presumed. Now she was sat in a wooden chair, her wrists and ankles bound to it with rope.

The door had closed shortly after she’d been placed there, footsteps leading away from the room and Alice had tried to figure out if she and Spencer had been separated or not. She didn’t think so, she’d heard scuffling as she’d been tied to the chair and right now she could hear breathing.

“Spmmmcr?” she tried to speak through the gag, hearing a muffled “Uh huh” in reply.

At least she wasn’t alone.

Alice tried to collect her thoughts, her face stinging and her stomach in pain from where she’d been punched. It had to have been Charlie who’d told on them. How stupid she’d been to believe him, how stupid she’d been to come back here in the first place. She’d escaped and now… now she was more than likely going to end up dead.

Dr Reid’s mind was in overdrive. His watch was still attached to his wrist and as far as he could tell, it hadn’t been damaged in the scuffle. That meant the team were aware of what was happening and would be coming up with a plan. But it would take time, and right now Spencer had no way of being able to communicate with them. He knew though, that they wouldn’t storm in, they would do it methodically and carefully, because they needed to get as many people out of this alive as possible.

Reid needed to speak to Lewis. He was certain that if he could speak to the man alone he could convince him to make contact with the team. As potentially dangerous as the man was, Spencer hadn’t profiled him as someone to make a rash decision such as killing them both. Because Lewis would know that if he did, he himself would stand no chance.

He could hear Alice breathing heavily. She wasn’t too far away from him, he could tell that much, and aside from the slap to the face and the punch to the gut, she hadn’t been injured too badly. That could have changed had Reid not truthfully answered Lewis’s question when he did, he’d seen the knife in Rebecca Olson’s hand and he really didn’t think she’d have hesitated to use it. She’d felt threatened by Alice’s return from the get go, that much was obvious from her body language.

Spencer and Alice could hear raised voices coming from the hallway outside the room, and they both strained to hear what was being said.

“We should just kill them both” came a female voice followed by a very loud “NO” from a young sounding male.

“Really Charles, why do you care so much?” the female spoke again, a bitter tone to her words. That had to be Rebecca.

“Think about this Becca. He’s FBI. If you kill them, we have no way out. We will ALL go to jail for killing a Federal Agent.”

“What other option do we have? Alice betrayed us, she deserves to be punished.”

“Stop thinking like that” came the exasperated response. “There’s another way. There has to be.”

The voices trailed off as they walked away from the door and Alice couldn’t help but think.

She was so sure it had to have been Charlie who had betrayed her and Spencer, surely he was the only one who could have. So why was he trying to persuade Rebecca away from harming them. What was he playing at?

Reid and Alice weren’t sure how much more time passed before the door to the room opened and closed again, and they heard one sole set of footsteps moving around the room. One by one their blindfolds and gags were removed and Alice could see that they’d been situated in Lewis’s office, the drapes to the room drawn and only a few lanterns lighting the space.

Lewis strode around and sat behind his desk, surveying the pair, staring intensely at Alice before briefly glancing to Reid and then back to her again.

“You have betrayed your family Alice” his words were low, an edge to them.

“You’re not my family, Lewis” her voice trembled as she spoke.

“I _am_ your family” he banged his fist onto the wooden table in front of him, startling her. “I took you in, I made you into the leader that you are. And THIS is how you repay me?”

Taking a deep breath she looked him straight in the eyes. Her words were calm and clear when she spoke again.

“Surely you must have seen this coming. What with you being from the future and all.”

Spencer glanced at her sharply, his head quickly whipping back around to look at Lewis, noting the man’s eyes closing as his mind ticked over.

“No. This didn’t happen then.”

“Because none of it happened. You’re ill Lewis. You’re… ”

“….. Alice, stop.”

Alice was surprised at the harshness of Dr Reid’s words. He shook his head at her ever so slightly.

“Yes Alice. Do listen to the Agent, and please bear in mind that your lives are now in my hands. You may have been integral to _that_ future, but things change, people adapt. This group will adapt without you there.”

“There won’t be any future if you kill us both, Lewis” Spencer pointed out. “My team will come in and either shoot you where you stand or take you into custody. They’re waiting in the woods surrounding this compound, waiting for the first sign that anything has happened to one of us. Their weapons are more powerful than yours and they will not hesitate to kill all who reside here if they have to. But that’s not what they want, that’s not what we want. But it’s what will happen if we’re not returned to them. You will die, as will everything you’ve worked towards.”

“There won’t be any future to this planet if I’m not there to secure it.”

“Then there’s a way you can secure it. I can make sure of it. You can leave this place alive and start new somewhere else. But you have to listen to what I have to say.”

“I’m listening.”


	35. Chapter 35

By the time Aaron and JJ arrived in the woods with extra supplies and backup, Rossi was certain he’d have to attempt to physically restrain Derek. The man was ready to defy all orders given to him so that he could barge in and attempt to rescue Spencer, his best friend.

Dave knew that it had been a bad decision to have Derek out in the woods with him. Whilst they all struggled to think objectively when it was one of their own, Morgan always seemed extra conflicted whenever something involved Reid and him potentially getting hurt. The first thing Aaron did when he exited the truck was to walk directly over to Derek and to place his two hands onto Morgan’s shoulders, stopping his colleagues pacing.

“I need you to put your feelings aside Derek. I CANNOT have your head not in the game here. We’re all worried and concerned but you’re one of my best assets and I need you on this, I need you to follow my orders. If you can’t do that, I want you to get back into that truck and drive back into town. Are you with us here?”

Taking a deep breath Morgan responded, looking his boss directly in the eye. “I’m with you. But Sir, if anything happens to Reid….”

“I know Derek, we all know. Because we all feel the same.”

“Aaron, have you been listening to this?” Dave called over to his colleague. Hotch shook his head, they’d lost the feed on the ride over here.

“The Kid’s got Lewis listening to him again, trying to negotiate a way out, some sort of exchange between the two.”

“JJ, Morgan. Quickly unload the other batteries and generators out of the truck. If Reid can convince Lewis to negotiate with us then they’ll have to make contact. We need the radio connection to be as powerful as possible, let’s get the signal boosted up quickly so we’re ready.”

…

“You want us to let you and Alice go? Why on earth would we do that?” Lewis stared at Spencer incredulously.

“Because it’s the only choice you have here. Think about this. If you kill us, my team will come in and kill you, all of you. Some of you may be able to get away but the likely hood is that you’ll die. Because their main focus will be taking YOU out, Lewis. Another option is for you to hold us both here indefinitely. The FBI won’t come in unless there’s an immediate threat to us our lives but they’ll wait you out. And you don’t have that many supplies left, you told me yourself. Eventually some of you will have to leave to restock and when you do, you’ll be picked off one by one. Or my team will figure out another way of getting in here and infiltrating the compound, and there will again be loss of life. Loss of strong, healthy people. Loss of the children…. Maybe even Abby. Do you want that on your head?”

“If we let you and Alice go, how do I know that they still won’t take this place down. That they won’t kill us?”

“Because you won’t be here for them to kill. Offer an exchange. Our lives for you and your immediate families lives, and safe passage to another country. One without extradition rights. You can start over again there. Ask for supplies, ask for money, build a new life there where you can still prepare for your future, Lewis. You won’t be able to take everyone with you, you’ll have to leave most of them behind. But those that are true to you, will find you wherever you settle and they’ll follow you.”

Lewis looked dubious but Spencer kept talking. “I’m important to the FBI, they will fight to keep me and Alice alive. They don’t want a blood bath on their hands either. They don’t want another Waco. They’ll want to settle this as peacefully as they can. If you let Alice and me go, then they’ll let you go. Trust me.”

Lewis rose from his seat and walked around to Alice, pulling the gag back up and into her mouth before repeating the same with Spencer.

“I’ll be back shortly. You’ve given me some interesting options to consider, but I need to discuss them with my family.”

…

Lewis returned later, just as sunlight was starting to stream through the windows. Alice and Spencer had been trying to listen to any snippets of conversation. They occasionally heard yelling from Rebecca but they weren’t close enough to be able to hear what was being said. Eventually, Alice’s eyes began to droop and she tried to find a comfortable position, not that she could move much.

When Lewis entered the room her eyes snapped open and she narrowed them when she saw who was with him.

Charlie. He was carrying a tray with some water and crackers on. First he went to Spencer, ungagging him and holding the bottle to his lips. He drank from it thirstily and then accepted the crackers one by one as they were fed to him. When Charlie moved over to Alice, she glared at him angrily, resisting the urge to spit the water back in his face. He didn’t glare back, just shaking his head at her as she drank. With his back to Lewis, he mouthed “ _it wasn’t me_ ” at her.

Bullshit, she thought. There was no one else it could have been.

When they were fed and watered, Charlie left the room leaving Lewis alone with them again.  
“As a group we have considered the options. We wish to talk with your team. How do we make contact?”

“Our bags, in the hut. There’s two cell phones in them that will switch to a radio frequency. You need a code though to activate them. And the team will want proof of life before they agree to anything, they’ll want to speak with us. Bring the cells in here and I’ll explain how they work and how to make contact.”

The team already had their proof of life, the fact that they could still hear everything Alice and Spencer were still saying. But Lewis didn’t know that.

“I’ll fetch your bags. Just so you’re both aware, Rebecca is still very much against this. She feels that we should kill you both and take our chances with the FBI. She’s a very impulsive person, that girl. I, however, feel that this group can start over somewhere else, should we be allowed to. I have no intention of hurting you, or allowing any member of this family to hurt you. I want the best possible out come here.”

“As do we” Spencer told him. Lewis appeared to be telling the truth which made Spencer hopeful that this could and would work.

Now he just had to wait for them to make contact and for negotiations to take place.


	36. Chapter 36

Plans were made. Some of them within ear shot of Spencer and Alice, other discussions took place away from them.

Lewis had sent someone to collect their belongings, and Spencer told him how to use the cell to make contact with the team, Agent Hotchner responding to him. As Spencer had predicted, Aaron asked to speak with both Spencer and Alice to confirm they were okay.

“We’re fine” Spencer assured him.

“You’ve not been harmed?” came the voice down the speaker.

“Not massively” Spencer started to say before Lewis spoke over him.

“Spencer is unharmed. Alice, has been mildly injured. Rebecca slapped her face and she took a punch to her stomach…..”

“And what else would you have let her do to me if Spencer hadn’t come clean. I saw the knife Lewis” Alice spat out.

Lewis looked shocked, his eyes wide and as Spencer looked at him he realised that he hadn’t known she was going to pull a blade on her.

“Alice…. She wasn’t instructed to do that… ”

“Yeah right. We all know who calls the shots around here…”

Lewis shook his head, repeating himself. “Rebecca was not instructed to do that to you. Rough you up a little yes, only enough to make Spencer cave. But I gave no order for her to put you in actual danger.”

“Ally, he’s telling the truth” Reid told her, intrigued by this turn of events. Rebecca was definitely more dangerous than they’d given her credit for.

“Alice, are you okay?” Aaron Hotchner spoke loudly to be heard by the three.

“I’m…. A bit bruised but no. I wasn’t hurt badly.”

“Agent Hotchner, your people will remain unharmed providing we’re able to come to a suitable arrangement. I have no desire to cause unnecessary loss of life which is what I’ve been assured will happen if these two are injured.”

“You are correct. If there is any indication that my two Agents have been hurt, then my team will take every single one of your family and residents down. We have no desire for that to happen either, but it will. We have more weapons and more man power than you do, and although we may suffer a loss ourselves, ultimately you will lose. I will make sure of that.”

“I understand you and believe that you will make that happen. So let’s talk, let us come to a peaceful arrangement.”

Lewis regagged Spencer and Alice then and took the cell/radio away with him leaving them alone again. Eric came into the room after around an hour, bringing water and food again.

“Eric, I need the toilet” Alice told him. Spencer had seen her fidgeting uncomfortably for a while now.

“Erm… I’ll… I’ll fetch Rebecca.”

“No. Fetch Lewis, where is he?”

“Meeting your boss.”

“What?”

“Alice it’s normal. In hostage situations often the people doing the negotiating will meet to show good faith in each other” Reid spoke to her, ungagged again as Eric offered him a drink.

“Eric, you could let us go” Ally all begged.

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Alice, I can’t. Trust me, I can’t. You have just a few more hours to wait if everything goes to plan. Just… Sit tight. And if you need the toilet, I can bring a bucket in. But we can’t give you any privacy to go. You’ll have to do it here, in front of us all, because I can’t risk you trying anything.”

“I’ll wait.. For Lewis.”

…

Lewis returned after one hour and forty minutes, checking in on them both. By that time though, Alice who had already been desperate to go when she’d spoke up, hadn’t been able to wait any longer and was now sitting in her own urine.

Spencer had felt bad for her, smelling the ammonia as it had left her body and hearing a sniffle coming from her. She refused to look at Reid for a while, shifting in her chair, her damp pajama bottoms clinging to her.

Lewis had reiterated Eric’s words to them, it wouldn’t be long, and Spencer wondered what had been agreed upon and what plans Hotch and the team were putting into place.

…

Alice had been made to change her bottoms, her hands unbound and then the ropes retied before both her and Spencer were escorted through the compound to the two minivans that Lewis told them had been sent in by the FBI. The vans were loaded with bags and various belongings, and Alice could see a young woman with a small child in her arms waiting by one.

When they reached the vehicles, Alice and Spencer were separated. Alice made to sit behind the drivers seat with Abby strapped in next to her. It was uncomfortable being buckled in with her wrists bound in front of her, and she could feel the curious eyes of the child sat next to her. Abby didn’t say anything and neither did Alice, choosing instead to focus on the young woman who was tearfully hugging Eric. This must be Jo, his match, and his child.

“We’ll send for you all when we’re settled, Lewis promises it won’t be too long” Alice could hear snippets of the conversation through the open drivers side door.

Where were they going? Spencer and Alice hadn’t been told the full details, only that they were being taken to be exchanged and that this would all be over soon.

Alice watched as Eric climbed in next to Spencer, followed by the ex lawyer Nicholas and Oliver. Lewis and Rebecca were stood around waiting, when finally Charlie showed up with one last bag in his hands. Words were exchanged between the three and eventually Lewis climbed into the vehicle with Spencer in it, with Rebecca and Charlie climbing into hers, Charlie unto the drivers seat.

He turned around, handing Abby a bottle with coloured liquid inside it and her eyes lit up.

“My favourite, thanks Charlie” she said quietly, taking a long sip.

“You’re welcome Abs” he turned the engine on and waited for the first vehicle to pull away, following behind closely.

When the vans reached the main road an hour or so later, they were joined in the front and back by what Spencer recognised as government issued cars. They were being escorted somewhere. He just didn’t know where and whilst he knew he had to trust his team, he hated being blind here and not knowing. He also felt extremely uneasy at the fact that he and Alice had been separated and that she was in the same vehicle as Rebecca Olson. That woman had serious issues with Alice, although the fact that Abby was in the same car put paid to his concerns that anything was going to happen to her.

…

Aaron and Dave followed the two minivans, keeping an open line with Derek and JJ who were at the air strip.

“You think this is going to work?” Rossi asked.

“Yes. Lewis is surprisingly trusting for a man in his position. All we need to do is get them to believe that the plane is ready to take off with them, and that we won’t follow them or extradite them back to this country. Convincing the ex lawyer they have was a bit of a push… ”

“But you did it. You realise there’s a chance this won’t go down how we’ve hoped and that they’ll turn on us once we have Alice and Spencer and they realise we have no intention of letting them leave.”

“I’m fully aware of that, I have to be. I know they’ll have bought weapons even though Lewis has been instructed not to. And I know this could end badly and that there’s a child with them. But what other choice did we have? We’ll catch them off guard, the plan will start to move up the runway slowly before encountering technical problems and then stopping.”

“And that’s where TJ will be waiting with his team?”

Aaron nodded. He’d called in to favour with his contact TJ in the US Army. The end of the runway where the small plane will be forced to stop would be lined with tanks from the local military base and soldiers. That plane would not be taking off and hopefully, the presence of the Army would make Lewis and his group think twice about trying anything and they’d surrender.

Officers and Agents had already descended on the camp, taking the residents into custody for questioning and witness statements. They just needed to to wait out the next part of the plan to get Reid and Alice back.


	37. Chapter 37

Dusk was falling as the vans turned into long road, following signs for “Benson Air Field”. The sky had turned a bright pink colour as the sun had started to set, and it was now fading to a dull dark blue, slowly turning to black.

The two government vehicles were still escorting them, Alice managing to crane her neck enough to look back and see that it was Agents Hotchner and Rossi that were in the vehicle directly behind them. They’d nodded to her when they saw her looking and she felt a sense of hope that maybe this would turn out okay in the end. The drive had been pretty much silent, only the sounds of the engine filling the van. Alice had been watching the roads as they passed through them, trying to work out where they were being taken, realising it was some sort of air field when she saw the same signs over and over, the vehicle finally turning in. Abby had fallen into a deep sleep, not long after they’d left, the bottle that Charlie had given her falling from her fingers and on to the floor. She didn’t even wake when the vehicle had had to slam it’s breaks on to avoid an animal that had run out into the road, jolting everyone. This made her wonder, was it only juice in the bottle or had Charlie put something else in it. And if so, why?

The small convoy of vehicles pulled onto a large concrete flat and Alice could see a small plane in the distance. The first vehicle led them over the tarmac and pulled to a stop, not too far from the air craft, stopping in front of two large metal cargo containers. Looking through the windows Alice could see at least five other vehicles parked slightly back from the plane and as they parked up, the car that was behind them with Aaron and Dave situated inside it, drove to over to the other cars and parked beside them. She squinted, trying to see what was happening, the only lights being the head lights from the cars, the lights shining through the windows of the plane and the lights on the run way.

Alice could make out Agent Hotchner speaking into a mouth piece of sorts and then he and Agent Rossi exited the vehicle, a loudspeaker in Aaron’s hand. Agents Jareau and Morgan got out of another car, both carry large guns. All four Agents were in bullet proof vests.

Charlie wound his window down so that the conversation could be heard.

“Lewis and Rebecca. Exit your vehicles leaving any weapons you have behind. You can inspect your transport before you all board and before we make the exchange. On board is a suitcase containing the cash ransom you requested along with enough food and items to get you settled” Aaron spoke into the mouthpiece as Derek and JJ raised their guns and pointed, ready for any false movement.

Lewis climbed out of his car and walked part of the way down the tarmac to where the Agents were standing, Rebecca climbing out and remaining by the car.

“Agent Hotchner, how do I know this plane is going to start, how do I know you’re going to follow through on your word and let us leave?”

“At multiple times during the driver here, we could have ran you off the road. I have trained snipers in these vehicles who _could_ have taken every last one of you barring Alice and Spencer out as your vehicles pulled to the stop. They’re trained to hit the target and nothing but their target every time. This afternoon during out meeting I could have easily overpowered you and taken you as our own hostage but I didn’t. As I have reiterated multiple times, I wish this to end peacefully with no unnecessary loss. Return my Agents to me unharmed and you will be allowed to leave. Now please, inspect your transportation. You will be able to see us all from the windows of the plane. We will make no move towards Spencer or Alice or the rest of your family.”

Lewis nodding taking in the Agents words and motioning to Rebecca to follow him up the small staircase to the plane. As promised, the FBI made no movement, holding their fire.

“Alice, can you move enough to release your seat belt?“Charlie whispered from his seat, his eyes focused on the windows of the place.

"What?” she was confused.

“Can you remove your seat belt?” his asked more insistently. She shifted in her seat, her hands bound in front of her. Yes, she could, just about. She twisted her body awkwardly, managing to release the catch.

“Yes… ”

“Drop to your knees in the foot well and move your arms as far forward as you can. I can’t turn around, I need to keep watch but I’ll hold this steady for you.”

He produced a large steel blade holding it low to avoid being seen.

“Charlie, what? They’re releasing us aren’t they?”

“Alice please, just move and start working the rope free. Lewis has ever intention to exchange you both, Rebecca doesn’t, she told me.”

Alice dropped to knees quickly, pushing her wrists forward and immediately rubbing the rope that bound them up and down the sharp steel blade, moving them as quickly as she could.

“If I say move, you need to get back on you seat quickly and refasten your belt. Keep you wrists together like they’re still tied okay.” his voice was frantic as he kept his eyes trained forward.

“Okay” she muttered, feeling the first bond give and come apart. She worked up and down the blade faster.

“Rebecca hates you, she’s threatened by you and everything you represent to Lewis. She was going to let Spencer go and then make me escort you onto the plane. She was going to use Abby as a shield, threatening to shoot her if they tried to rescue you. Once we got into the air, she was going to kill you herself.”

“She was going to use….."Alice glanced over at Abby, feeling another binding give way. "Charlie, did you give her something?”

He nodded, holding the knife steady. “Sleeping pills. Enough so that she’ll sleep through all of this but not enough to… She’ll wake up Alice, when this is over. I just didn’t want her to witness this if it all goes wrong.”

Alice understood what he was saying, working faster as she felt another bond snap, the blade of the knife cutting against her arm as she moved. She winced but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.

“Ally it wasn’t me. I didn’t betray you and Spencer, I need you to believe that. I don’t know who did or how they knew, but it wasn’t me.”

Alice wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, someone had to have told their secret and he was the only who knew. The final binding broke just as Charlie hissed at her to get back in her seat. She moved quickly and carefully, refastening the seat belt and placing her wrists together, ignoring the dull pain that was throbbing through her bleeding arm. Lewis and Rebecca left the plane, walking over to the first vehicle and opening the door. Lewis led Spencer out and across the concrete, stopping halfway. Aaron walked forward to meet him as Spencer glanced backwards towards Alice.

“Alice remains in the car until we’re loaded up and taxiing down the runway” Lewis spoke loudly and clearly, Agent Hotchner nodding.

“Acceptable. Move your things quickly.”

Hotch placed his hand onto Spencer’s arm, leading him back towards the Agents as Lewis gave orders for the belongings from the vans to be bought in.

“Hotch, are you really letting them leave?” Spencer murmured, barely moving his lips as Dave unbound his wrists. Aaron gave a barely perceivable shake of his head.

..

“Ally, wait until Rebecca’s boarded again and then slip out and run” Charlie instructed her, holding the knife out behind him. She took it from him, watching as he got out of the van and started carrying belongings from the vehicle.

He handed a large holdall to Rebecca who met him partway and she turned, walking back towards the plane and up the stairs. Nicholas, Oliver and Eric were already aboard, stashing their belongings.

As soon as Rebecca boarded, Charlie looked back to the van at Alice and she quietly opened the door and climbed out. The way they’d parked meant that her door was facing the two large cargo containers. She moved towards them, quickly realising that she could slip between the two and be hidden.

Or at least that was what she thought.

Spencer had seen the car door open and saw Alice slip out, motioning to Hotch who glanced over and saw what he had. He was just about to move forward to try and get her when Aaron put his arm out stopping him. Lewis and Rebecca had exited the plane again and Spencer watched as Rebecca looked over to the vehicle, her eyes narrowing when she saw Alice wasn’t there.

“Where is she?” she yelled, her voice hoarse.

“Aaron, we had a deal” Lewis spoke, looking over to the group of Agents, who were now carefully watching him.

“We did. We haven’t touched Alice, my Agents would not have been able to make it to the vehicles and back again without you seeing us.”

Alice was trying to work out her best plan of action here. She could see Rebecca’s eyes searching the area for her. She was trapped between the two cargo containers just a few feet from the vehicle she’d arrived in, she’d have to run past it, to get to the Agents. But the vehicles would shield her movements somewhat if she kept low enough.

Alice couldn’t see a gun on Lewis’s belt, she reckoned she could make it. She crept to the edge of the container, and began to run.

No one was expecting Rebecca Olson to pull out a gun and fire as she spotted Alice’s shadow starting to move.

No one was expecting the loud crack of glass shattering as she missed her target and hit the window of the minivan.

No one was expecting the loud cry that left Lewis’s chest as he saw his seven years old daughter take a bullet to her head, the noise so horrific that it stopped Alice in her tracks, causing her to drop to her knees when she saw the same thing.

“HOLD YOUR FIRE” Agent Hotchner yelled loudly. Rebecca had lowered her gun when she’d seen what, and who she’d hit, her hand clasping over her mouth.

Lewis ran to the car, hauling open the door and pulling his daughters lifeless body from it, laying her onto floor as he sobbed over it.

“Aaron….. ” Spencer was watching Alice who looked dazed and extremely confused suddenly. She looked towards Spencer and then back towards the horrific scene of the man she’d made a child with, sobbing over the dead body of that child.

Something triggered inside her chest and rather than picking herself up and running towards to Agents like she knew she should, she crawled on her hands and knees towards the small lifeless child that she had birthed into this world.

“No no no no NO!” Reid muttered, watching her reach out to touch the child, her face crumpling when her hand came away bright red with blood.

Alice’s vision was blurred as she looked at her dead daughter, the daughter she’d felt very little for when she’d been alive. Suddenly, she felt the atmosphere change and Lewis lunged forward, grabbing her by her neck and pulling her up to her feet, positioning her body in front of his as a shield.

“This is your fault” he hissed, his arm pressed against his throat as he signalled to Rebecca to move next to him.

“Lewis, you do not want to do this” Aaron called across the tarmac. “You can still leave, you can still start over. Just let her go.”

His grip tightened.

“Lewis please. Let Alice go” Spencer called out, trying to reason with the man. “Alice didn’t want this. Look at her, she’s as broken as you are. That was her child, she loved her. Let her go and you can leave.”

Lewis looked at the young woman he was gripping so tightly. Tears were running down Alice’s face and she struggling to breathe through her sobs.

“Did you love her?” he asked her quietly. When she didn’t respond immediately he asked again, louder. “Did you love HER?”

“YES!” she choked out. She did love her, in the way that one had to love a family member. She hadn’t wanted Abby to die, or for any harm to come to her. She just didn’t know what she’d do with her afterwards. She recognised though, that this was her way out. To act like a broken mother.

“I loved her so much, why do you think I came back? I’m her Mom. I wanted to be her Mom” she lied through her teeth feeling Lewis loosen his grip and shove her away and to the side.

No sooner than she was free though, and she felt another pair of arms grab her, the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed to her forehead.

Rebecca Olsen.

..

Derek raised aimed his weapon immediately.

“Hotch, I can take her.”

“Wait” came the order from his superior.

“Aaron, if he has the shot…. ” Dave countered.

“Wait” came the order again, sterner this time.

..

"This is your fault, all of it” Rebecca spat out, pressing the barrel into Alice’s temple as she squirmed.

She glanced towards Lewis who looked shocked, then looked over to the open door of the plane seeing Charlie standing this, an expression of horror on his face.

“How did you even get free anyway? How did you even manage to escape. I was going to end you, I still will. Right here, right now.”

“Rebecca lower your gun and let her go” Aaron called out.

“No, everything that has happened is because of her. She deserves to pay.”

“Do you not think she is paying? Her daughter is dead. You put in a bullet in her head” Charlie yelled from the top of the stairs.

“It was you wasn’t it, you let her out. You’ve always had a thing for her, right from day one. You let her go. Today and back then, I’ll bet.”

The expression on Charlie’s face told Rebecca everything she needed to know and she reangled her body so that she was blocked by Alice, held out her arm and fired for the second time that evening.

Unlike the first time though, she didn’t miss her target and Charlie’s chest exploded with scarlet before he tumbled to the floor.


	38. Chapter 38

Alice’s mouth was dry, so very dry. Her head was pounding and as she raised her right arm to touch it, she could feel that it was wrapped in bandages. Slowly she peeled her eyes open, seeing that she was in a hospital room, tubes protruding from her arms and hands. Why was she here again? She felt so very confused right now.

She tried to a adjust her position on the bed, a searing pain shooting through her left shoulder, bringing tears to her eyes and causing a loud grunt to escape her lips. Suddenly a body was standing at the side of her bed, the familiar face of Dr Spencer Reid.

“Don’t try to move Ally, you’ve been shot; do you remember?”

A nurse bustled into the room and started checking the vital signs on the machines next to the bed as Alice struggled to speak.

Shot? She’d been…. shot?

“Sweetie, are you in pain?” the nurse asked her softly.

So much pain. Alice nodded watching the nurse depress a button on the machine. Moments later she felt a numbness a lowly overtaking her body and mind just as the events that had put her here came flooding back.

_“She’s ruined everything. And now she gets to go off and live her life whilst we go to jail ? We were preparing for the future. Do you all not realise this? Do you know what’s going to happen in the years to come?”_

_“Rebecca, let her go. We’ve lost too much today already. Let her go, now.” Lewis commanded and Alice felt her old friends grip on her reluctantly release itself. Rebecca shoved her forward and she quickly moved on the tarmac to meet Spencer who had come forward, halfway between his team and Lewis and Rebecca, as he’d tried to convince Rebecca to hand Alice over to the FBI. The rest of his team had their weapons still trained on the pair, watching and waiting for any sign of further trouble._

_Alice made it to Spencer and fell into his arms, clinging to him. Just as they were about to start the walk back to the rest of his team, Alice heard Rebecca mutter something under her breath._

_“No. This isn’t fair, she needs to pay.”_

_Alice spun around just in time to see Becca raise her gun again, pointing it not at her but at Spencer. In what felt like slow motion, the trigger was released just as Alice heard another gun at the opposite end of the tarmac going off._

_She shoved hard into Spencer who’s gaze was still on his team, pushing him out of the way as an unimaginable pain tore through her shoulder and she started to fall._

_The last thing she saw before her head hit the ground hard, was Rebecca Olson also falling._

…

When Alice came to again, she felt slightly less confused. She was in hospital, she’d been injured. But she needed to know what happened after she’d been shot. Blinking a few times, she moved her head slightly looking around the room. Spencer Reid was still in the room with her, hunched in the corner, leaning over the table that the nurses would have used to fill out their paperwork.

She cleared her throat “Spencer?”

The profiler glanced up and seeing that she was awake, put down his papers and walked over, sitting in the chair at the side of the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her quietly.

“Like I’ve been shot. Not that I knew what being shot felt like before now, but this definitely feels like I’ve been shot. Spencer, what happened?” she winced slightly at the pain in her shoulder and Spencer glanced up towards the call button above her bed.

“No, please don’t. It hurts but it’s okay. And whatever pain meds they’re pumping into me are clearly enough to tranquillise a horse. I need to know, please tell me.”

He gave a slight nod of his head before beginning. “After Rebecca shot you, you hit the ground pretty hard and cracked your head open. You’ve got some stitches at the back of your head so you’ll probably be sore there for a while. Morgan took her out, he had no choice. She’s dead. We have Lewis, Oliver, Nicholas and Eric in custody and the other residents at the compound have been rounded up and collected. They’re all being processed and having statements taken of their time at the compound. It’s going to be tricky trying to decide what to do with them all afterwards, it’s the only life some of them have known for years, but the FBI will figure something out.”

He paused for a breath and then placed his hand over hers on the bed, stroking it softly.

“Alice, they told me Rebecca wasn’t aiming at you when she fired. That she was aiming at me and you pushed me out of the way.”

Alice wanted to shrug and started to make the motion to do so before remember the colossal amount of pain the last time she’d tried to move her shoulders.

“I couldn’t let her hurt you. Not after everything else. You were only there because of me. When I saw her aim her gun at you, I just reacted.”

“Well…..thank you.” He smiled at her and she realised that she’d actually miss that smile now this was all over. She imagined she’d be needed for a while longer, but soon she’d no longer have any reason see him or to be around him. She felt saddened.

“Ally, you remember what happened to Abby. And to Charlie, right?” Spencer’s voice was cautious, unsure whether the bang to her head had affected her memory.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she recalled the images she’d been pushing aside. Her child, lifelessly lain on the floor, blood trickling from a wound on her temple. Charlie’s body falling to the floor as the bullet fired from her one time best friends gun tore through his chest, once Rebecca found out that it was him who had set Alice free.

Alice wouldn’t ever forget the fear she’d felt over those next few moments as Spencer had walked forward unarmed and pleaded with Rebecca to allow Alice to go. In the end it had been Lewis she’d listened to, Lewis who forced her hand.

_“Becca, we can still leave. They’ll still let us leave.” he looked over at Spencer who had nodded although both men knew that wasn’t going to happen. Lewis was tired of the blood shed though. This shouldn’t have happened this way._

_“Let her go. I’ve lost two of my children tonight. You’ve shot them both. But I… I forgive you. I know you were trying to protect us, to protect our family. If you hurt her, they’ll kill you and I can’t lose you too.”_

_Lewis didn’t mean what he was saying, his head was throbbing suddenly and he just wanted this to stop._

_“Lewis, we’re going to jail either way. They won’t let us leave now” Becca pressed the barrel harder against Alice’s skull._

_“Even if they don’t, we can still be together. Please Rebecca. I don’t want to see you die tonight as well.”_

“ _She’s ruined everything………”_

Alice blinked away tears again.

“You should know that it wasn’t Charlie who betrayed us, Ally. One of the park rangers, his brother in law works for the Rylon County Police Department. They had dinner together the night we were found out and the Ranger was told about the take down. He went straight to the compound and told them.”

“It wasn’t Charlie…. ” she repeated his words, a tear spilling free and running down her cheek. Spencer reached over and gently wiped it away.

“No. He was true to you until the end.”

The river of emotion that had been building and building inside Alice, everything she’d kept bottled up for the past five years coupled with the events of the past few weeks, finally broke free and Alice started to sob. Her cries were silent at first and then her shoulders started to rack as her sobs grew louder, causing pain to surge through her body. Spencer hit the call button and a nurse bustled through to administer more pain medication.

Alice’s eyes began to droop within minutes and Spencer knew she wouldn’t be awake for much longer. Her eyes found his in her morphine induced haze and she spoke, her words slurred a little from the strong meds.

“Stay with…. me?”

Spencer didn’t have any intention of leaving her side any time soon.

…

When she awoke again Spencer had left her side although he’d been reluctant to do so. Aaron had forced him to leave, telling him to go home and have a shower and to get changed. He’d sit with Alice until he came back.

“How are you feeling?” Agent Hotchner asked the young woman once she’d gathered her bearings again.

“I’m not really sure. Very…. tired. And a little like someone’s stuffed cotton wool into my brain.”

“That’s normal considering the medication they’re giving you. They said you were very lucky, a millimetre or two to the left and the bullet would have hit a major artery.”

Alice just nodded not quite knowing what to say. The older Agent looked at her carefully for a moment or too.

“Your sister and brother in law are out in the hallway. They want to see you but I wanted to talk to you first. I want you to know that it took a lot of courage to go back to that place like you did. It took a lot of guts and bravery to put yourself through that again to help us. You should be incredibly proud of yourself for what you did Alice.”

“People died because of me. Because I didn’t come forward sooner…. And Charlie, and Abby.” her voice broke when she said her daughters name.

“No one died because of you Alice. They died because of Lewis. Because he’s a very sick man who managed to convince a lot of people that what he was doing was right. If you hadn’t come forward, a lot more people would have died because that camp would have kept going. He would have kept on recruiting people for his non existent cause. But because of you, because of how brave and brilliant you were, he’s now in custody.”

“Do you.. do you know who he actually is yet? Where he came from… Why he did this?”

Hotch shook his head “No. And we may never know. But the FBI will do their damnedest to find out who he actually was. We have some of the most brilliant minds in the country working for us. Which is another reason I’m here to talk to you. You’ve been studying Criminal Psychology in college and you’ve already technically worked a case with us. If the FBI is a career path you’re interested in, if the BAU is a career path you’re interested in, then I can make that happen for you. Perhaps not now because you need to take some time to recover from this all, mentally as well as physically, but in the future. Think about it, okay.”

“Okay. Thank you, Sir.”

“No Alice, thank you.” he rose from his seat and patted her leg. “I’ll send your sister in to see you. She’s been quite worried that she’s not managed to catch you awake yet.”

…

This time when Alice woke up it wasn’t from a drug induced sleep, and although the pain in her shoulder and head was still strong, she could cope with it.

Spencer was back in the room, a pile of books and dvds on the table in front of him.

“Hi…..” she croaked out meekly.

“Hi. I, erm…..I bought some things for us to read and watch together whilst you recover.”

“Together?”

“Well, you _were_ my wife for those few days, and you _are_ injured. A good husband wouldn’t abandon his partner would he?”

Alice gave a small smile.

“Plus… Didn’t you say that when everything was over, you’d finally get around to finishing Harry Potter.”

He held out the books he’d bought and she saw it was the collection from his bookshelf.

“All of them?” she asked.

“All of them. All seven books and all eight movies. We’ve got some time before you’ll be allowed to leave, and like I said; a good husband wouldn’t abandon his wife…..”

Alice’s face broke into a wide grin. Maybe she wasn’t going to have to miss his smile after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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